Spirit of the Armors: Spirit's Awakening
by Tigergirl
Summary: One lost fight and a break in concentration lands him somewhere unfamiliar. He thought his life was in order and he was content with serving in the dynasty, but then everything changed. This is the story of how a warlord learned to find his heart and care for another.
1. Chapter 1

Tigergirl: Hello, everyone! In the spirit of Memorial Day, I have decided to post the first chapter to a new story I started working on a couple of months ago.

Ronins: YEAH!

Tigergirl: Also, due to lack of inspiration, I shall be discontinuing my work on To Help or Not to Help.

Ronins: AWW!

Yuli: BOO!

Tigergirl: *glare* Oh, shush! Besides, I just started another fic a couple of days ago and am already on chapter three. That one should start appearing soon, too.

Ronins: YEAH!

**Title:** Spirit of the Armors: Spirit's Awakening

**Author:** Tigergirl

**Rated: **T (just for safety's sake)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything of the Ronin Warriors. Just own the original character starring in this fan fic.

**Summary:** One lost fight and a break in concentration lands him somewhere unfamiliar. He thought his life was in order and he was content with serving in the dynasty, but then everything changed. This is the story of how a warlord learned to find his heart and care for another.

CHAPTER ONE

He let out a low groan as he leaned his back against a tree. He felt the stinging pain shoot through his back as the tree bark touched the burns on his back through his shirt. The warlord had willed his armor and subarmor away to lie in normal mortal clothes against the tree.

I can't believe I lost to that…_child_, the warlord growled to himself.

The fight had been going in his favor with him quickly overpowering the Wildfire bearer. However, just when he had been about to deal the final blow, Wildfire had struck back with a power beyond his capabilities. The fire had burned only partially through his armor, but it reminded the Dark Warlord of Talpa's fire pits.

He glanced down at his arms where there were first degree burns spread out from close to his shoulders down to his wrists. The tides had changed in the battle so quickly that he had willed himself away without focusing on his destination. He wasn't even sure where he was. A quick glance around did nothing to aid him in determining his location.

He was lying against a large oak tree that shaded him very well. There was a mini waterfall and stream not too far from where he was. The position of the sun told him the time was close to seven in the morning.

That can't be right. It was night time when I attacked Wildfire, he thought.

Exhaustion was starting to seep in as he allowed himself to rest all of his weight against the tree. His armor would heal the burns in a short time. He could hear a faint calling from the dynasty, but he chose to ignore it. He had been shamed by the ronin whelp beating him and he could already picture the smug faces of his fellow warlords.

I will rest and renew my strength before returning to the dynasty, he said to himself.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

/…/

Only an hour later, someone came walking through the woods in the direction of the wounded warlord. She moved slowly with a backpack bumping gently against her back. She brought her hands up to pull the straps of the backpack out, pulling it closer to her back. She walked through an opening in the trees to reach her favorite spot.

Very few people could find the spot, which is why she was surprised to find someone there. It should have made her angry, but she was actually happy to find someone there. She approached him carefully with a small smile on her face. However, her smile fell when she stopped next to him. She knelt down beside him and stared at the burns on his arms.

"How did this happen?" she whispered.

Careful not to lay a hand on the burns, she gave the stranger a once over to see if there were any other injuries. Not seeing any other injuries, she dropped her backpack gently next to the stranger before dashing back through the trees. She ran down the pathway she had walked down just before. She passed by the O'Donnell's House and continued on to a front yard with a large, two-story home.

She slowed to a short jog up the porch steps and opened the door carefully so it didn't bang closed behind her. She walked upstairs to the bathroom Cecilia and Marla shared. There were still some gauze and bandaging sitting out on the bathroom counter; Marla had burned her hand yesterday while trying to cook lunch for the family. She grabbed those items up and a few cold compresses. She moved slower back along the path to the strange man.

She knelt down quietly beside the injured man and cooled down the burns with the cold compresses. She nearly jumped back away from him when the initial contact made him jerk slightly. She was surprised he didn't wake, but she thought that maybe he was just very tired. She started murmuring a song Cecilia had been singing lately.

"_Come stop your crying_

_It will be all right_

_Just take my hand_

_Hold it tight._"

Her voice was quiet and soft, only loud enough for her and her sleeping companion to hear.

"_I will protect you_

_From all around you_

_I will be here_

_Don't you cry._"

She placed the cold compresses down. She pulled one arm carefully towards her and laid it in her lap. She placed gauze down on his arm and wrapped his arm with bandaging. She remembered that the bandaging needed to be tight, but not too tight. She fumbled for the next words. All she could remember now was the chorus.

"_You'll be in my heart_

_Yes, you'll be in my heart._

_From this day on_

_Now and forever more."_

Cecilia had been singing that song in chorus class for the last month and had sung it while they washed the dishes. It was a catchy little tune that had parts she could easily remember. She finished bandaging both arms and laid them both down in the man's lap.

She kept singing the song as she cleaned up everything and scooped it into her backpack. She didn't notice as the clasp on her bracelet released and it fell off her wrist. She was unaware of its lack of presence due to its light weight and her long sleeves that came down over her hands.

A cool breeze picked up that rustled her long black hair. She brought the back of her hand up to the man's face and momentarily jerked it back. His cheek was freezing! She decided to go back to the house for a blanket for the man to use while he slept.

As she stood up, she put a hand up to her chest due to the sudden tightness. She started wheezing as she walked away. She decided not to run to the house this time and also chose to leave her backpack beside the man again. It felt like it took forever for her to get back to the house.

Unfortunately, Aunt Clarice was home for an early lunch when she spotted her. She ran upstairs and came rushing back down with a small inhaler. The older female wouldn't allow her out of the house until she had taken two puffs on the inhaler and eaten something. That and she had to take the inhaler with her.

Stupid Aunt Clarice, she thought.

She walked in a calmer manner on the path which took her down the street and through the woods. To her surprise, the strange man was gone when she arrived. The only thing still lying against the tree was her backpack. She deeply frowned as she plopped down onto the grass.

"Why did he leave?" she mumbled.

/…/

The warlord sat on the ground of his room and leaned his back against the wall. He slowly peeled away the bandages wrapped around his arms. He couldn't even fathom who had put them on him, let alone why.

What foolish mortal would help someone they didn't know, he snarled to himself.

A clock nearby told him it was a little after midnight. He snorted. He had to have been in another country to experience such a jump in time. In a way, the time jump was in his favor. The others would surely be fast asleep.

He finished taking the bandages off and banished them away with the wave of his hand. Not surprisingly, the burns were healed so much that there were no signs the burns had ever been there. He decided to get something to eat and more rest before he endured the repercussions of not immediately returning to the dynasty after his [failed] mission.

The warlord stood up to leave his room when he heard something drop to the ground. His gaze fell downward where a small bracelet lay on the ground. He knelt down to pick it up and inspect it.

The bracelet was a common piece of jewelry. There was a thin, rectangular plate attached onto a chain-like band. There was a weird symbol and writing on the outside part of the plate. He flipped the plate over to find more writing on the inside part.

This must have fallen off my "savior," he thought.

It was even more obvious that a female had aided him. No man, mortal or immortal, would wear such a trinket. With a shrug, the warlord dropped the bracelet into a desk drawer and shut it before leaving his room. While walking down the hall towards the kitchen, the warlord used the power of his armor to sense where the others were.

He was momentarily surprised to find all three apparently fast asleep in their respective rooms.

Weird. Usually, two of them are quite the night owls, he thought.

He wandered into the kitchen and built himself a simple sandwich. As he sat eating his sandwich, he couldn't get something out of his head.

_Just take my hand_

_Hold it tight_

/…/

"It's dinner time!"

"I'm not hungry!"

She wanted so badly to close and lock the bedroom door, but there was a rule in the house. A rule she downright hated. She turned back around and leaned over the paper she was drawing on. She put down the royal blue colored pencil and ran her fingers over a few colors before selecting the brown.

If anyone were to walk by, they would see a strong look of concentration on her face. She was carefully drawing a picture of her and her new friend with great detail. The brown went down and the purple was picked up. She started sketching a rainbow across the top of the paper in the sky.

A loud rap on her door caused her to jerk upwards and her eyes flew to the doorway. Cecilia stood there with a pissed look on her face.

"You're expected downstairs for dinner…_now_," Cecilia told her.

She stubbornly shook her head. "I have to finish this."

Cecilia huffed as she stomped closer to peer over the other female's shoulder. She had to admit that she seemed to be very talented in art, particularly drawing.

"Fine, but don't expect to come down for anything later. You know what Uncle Maurice says about not joining the rest of us for dinner," Cecilia said before turning around and leaving.

She listened for Cecilia's footsteps to start down the staircase before bending down to her bottom desk drawer and opening it. She pulled out a packet of Oreos she had kept hidden in the desk for a few days. She picked up an Oreo and started munching on it before she continued working on her drawing. She didn't care about missing dinner; she had eaten a late and heavy lunch.

She finally put down her colored pencil and sat back to look at her drawing. In the picture, the man was sleeping against the tree with a sad smile on his face and his eyes drawn closed with two small smiles where the eyes should have been. She had drawn herself a few feet away leaning up against another tree sleeping but with a smile on her face. The small waterfall was in the background and the rainbow was across the top of the page.

"I wish I knew your name," she whispered.

END OF CHAPTER ONE

**I hope you have all enjoyed this first chapter and I look forward to reading your reviews. **** Happy Memorial Day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Ooookay. Some views, but no ****re****views. Hmm…please enjoy the next chapter.**

CHAPTER TWO

"Grr. Not _again._"

After his first failure, he had been subjected to Talpa's wrath in the form of painful bolts coursing through his body. Then he had been forced to endure the smirks and snickers of his fellow warlords.

Like they haven't failed a mission in the last hundred years, he thought bitterly.

He had almost had that stupid Wildfire within his grasp. He had blinded the warrior _and_ had the mortal woman and child captured by soldiers. Out of nowhere, Halo had come to his friend's aid and defeated him. By some miracle, he had managed to transport himself to the safe haven he had last appeared in over a week ago. He wasn't injured very badly and it was a little later in the morning than from his last visit. He could still feel the jolting pangs of lightning shoot through his body.

I am in no hurry to return to the dynasty. If he wants me back so quickly, he can come find me, the warlord said to himself.

The dark overlord had three other warlords at his disposal; he didn't need to worry about where _one_ was for a few hours. Truth be told, he was curious to see if his "little savior," as he had taken to calling her, would make a reappearance. Relaxing his body, he leaned back against the tree and allowed himself to fall asleep.

/…/

_You are My Sunshine_

_My only sunshine._

_You make me happy_

_When skies are grey._

He woke up in an instant when he heard a quiet voice singing. He turned his head slightly but allowed the fringe of his hair to hide his slightly opened eyes. A quick glance up revealed that only an hour had passed since the time he had arrived. Looking down, he saw a backpack sitting next to him and against the tree.

He saw some movement in the trees and quickly shut his eyes. He heard soft footfalls approach him before stopping next to him. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a light touch run down his arm. His arm was picked up and the touch ran down the inner part of his arm.

The person stepped carefully over his legs before repeating this pattern with his other arm. It suddenly occurred to him what she was doing.

I had burns on my arms last time. She must be checking for injuries, he thought.

_You'll never know, dear,_

_How much I love you._

_Please don't take my sunshine away._

He was surprised by how soft and quiet her singing voice was. He waited until he heard her walking away to open his eyes. He was shocked when he spotted his "little savior." He faded from view, only to reappear on a low tree branch of the tree he'd been leaning against.

She returned a few moments later and stopped at the base of the tree with a frown. She glanced around, turning her body all around, before pouting and plopping down with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Not _again_!" she exclaimed.

He resisted the urge to chuckle. At first, he had had some doubt that this was the one who had tended to his burns on his first visit, but he had no doubts now. He had to strain to listen when she began mumbling.

"I wanted to know your name," she murmured.

He frowned. His name? Was that all she expected in return for helping him (even when it was quite obvious he didn't need the help)? Foolish mortal.

"Tala!"

Both of them snapped their heads up. She scrambled to her feet, snatched up her backpack, and fumbled to put it on as she dashed away.

"Tala!"

"I'm coming!"

The warlord frowned. Tala? Why did that sound familiar? Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and he instantly returned to the dynasty. He quietly reappeared in his room. He closed his eyes and focused his armor's power out to sense the others. One of his brothers-in-arms was in the kitchen, but the other two were beyond his range of sense.

They must be out on a mission, he thought.

He quickly located the bracelet that had been left on his person. He turned over the bracelet to look on the inside where _Tala_ was written. He now knew that his "little savior" was this Tala he had seen and the bracelet did indeed belong to her. He still didn't know what the other words and symbols meant. Now she piqued his interest.

/…/

Over a period of the next two weeks, the warlord stole away during the night to reappear where Tala was during the morning. He would return to the tree and observe Tala as she came to the spot every day. She would stay for a few hours by drawing, reading a book, or simply taking a nap under the very tree he was in.

He was careful to stay hidden so she didn't see him. When it was early afternoon, she would either leave or someone whom he heard but never saw would call for her along the path. After that, he would return to the dynasty to sleep off the early hours of morning before dawn. The rest of his days would consist of meditating, plotting and sparring with his fellow warlords, and an occasional fight with the ronins.

His next battle involved him nearly killing Torrent when Wildfire (again with this annoying mortal!) had dove into the whirlpools to aid his friend. The warlord knew had he been in Torrent's situation his fellow warlords would have left him to fend for himself.

It still amazes me we haven't killed each other in all the time we've been…"together," he thought.

The battle, yet again, had not ended well. While he had sustained no injuries, he found himself appearing in his new haven without a second thought. He banished his armor to trade it out with jeans and t-shirt, complete with sneakers. The sun was at the very top of the sky yet he saw no signs of Tala.

He chose to stand and walk around the small area. It was a nice open field area with trees surrounding the area and a hedge of bushes nearly blocking the only path leading into the field. Then there was a small hill where a river ended as a small waterfall and pond. The waterfall was maybe ten feet tall and about seven feet wide from side to side.

His keen sense of hearing picked up the sound of someone coming up the path towards the field. He could tell by the very soft footfalls who was coming. In a split second, he made a decision.

/…/

Tala walked down the pathway around a tall row of bushes before entering her safe haven. She had her gaze on the ground so she was almost seven feet away from the other person in the field when she looked up. She froze on the spot and stared up at him in obvious surprise. The two stared at each other, neither one of them sure of what to say.

Tala tilted her head to the side as if looking for something. He would never admit it, but her gaze was unsettling in that he felt like she could see right through him. Suddenly, her face broke out in a smile and she giggled. She took a step closer and spoke.

"You came back," she said.

The warlord couldn't remember the last time he had been this close to a mortal and not been (a) in full armor, (b) attacking said mortal, and (c) hesitant to speak. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her now that they were face to face. So he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I…did," he replied.

She took a few more steps closer until she was standing right in front of him. He froze up when she reached out to touch his arm. Her touch was soft yet not hesitant as she reached up to hold his arm.

"The burns are gone," she commented.

He nodded quietly. Her smile was blinding as she carefully laid his arm back at his side and clapped her hands together in front of her.

"That makes me happy."

Tala then fell silent as she gave the older man a good look. His skin was pale as if he had lived mostly indoors. His eyes were such a dark shade of color they seemed black. The man's hair was an unusual color, but that was one of the features she liked most about him. Meanwhile, he took a few quiet moments to look over her.

Tala had long flowing black hair that came down a few inches past the shoulders. Her eyes were a surprising shade of amber that appeared copper colored to his eyes. They were a very unique color. It was then he noticed a large scratch on the back of her hand. By the time he registered what he was doing, the ruthless warlord had taken the hand gently into his as if holding a kitten.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked.

Tala frowned as she looked at the scratch.

"Cecilia's cat scratched me. I wanted to sit on the couch so I tried moving her," she answered.

He ran his thumb lightly over it. Mortals were such fragile beings. The scar wasn't very deep and would probably heal in a day, but he knew something that would make it heal much faster.

"Stay here," he told her.

Tala nodded her head. He let her hand go and he walked out of sight before bringing himself back to the dynasty. He landed in his room without a sound. He opened his desk drawer to pull out the bracelet which he stuffed in his pocket.

The warlord crossed the room to his work table where several vials were sitting. He picked up a vial that had a few drops of a blue liquid in it. He picked up a small bowl that had a few crushed leaves in it. He mixed in a few pinches of the leaves with the liquid substance and swirled it until it became a gooey solid.

Grabbing a small petri dish, he put some of the cream into the dish before sealing it and placing the vial back in its place. He disappeared from the dynasty and returned to where Tala was.

He walked back into the open area to find Tala leaning against a large tree half-asleep and letting out a loud yawn. He shook his head as he walked around the tree. He picked up the small body, sat down, and placed her on his knee.

She opened her eyes, yawned and looked at him.

"You took a long time," she complained.

"How old are you, Tala?" he countered, ignoring her statement.

Tala smiled at him before holding up seven fingers. He had suspected as much when he had first seen her. He took out his cream and carefully smeared it over her scratch to which she jolted upwards abruptly. He used his other arm to wrap around behind her shoulders to keep her seated.

The warlord frowned at her.

"That hurt," she whined.

The warlord blinked. He hadn't realized that the ingredients together would actually have any stinging bite to it. The girl flinched and clenched her unscarred hand into a fist while trying to let the pain pass.

"I'm sorry."

He froze. When was the last time he had apologized to anyone? He, like his fellow warlords, never apologized to their dark master. Even after a failure, they didn't offer an apology; they merely accepted punishment.

"How did you know my name?" she asked, scrunching up her face in confusion.

He couldn't suppress the small chuckle as he placed the dish away in his pocket and pulled Tala's bracelet out of the other. Her face lit up and she bounced on his knee when she saw what was in his hand.

"I thought I lost that! Uncle Maurice got _so_ mad!" she exclaimed.

He helped her secure the bracelet on her wrist so that it wouldn't fall off so easily again. She ducked her head down to smile happily down at her bracelet. He reached up to pat her gently on the top of the head. Tala slowly turned her head to smile at him.

"What's your name?"

He had considered not telling the little mortal, but then he had wondered what harm would come of it. What could a little seven year old do to a three-hundred something old dark warlord?

"My name is Sekhmet."

Tala scrunched up her face and tried to say his name. He snorted at her first try. However, he was pleasantly surprised when she got it on the second try.

"Sekhmet," she said, giggling. "I like it."

"Good."

The warlord watched as Tala reached into her backpack for a sketchbook and a pack of colored pencils. She pushed his left leg out, giving her space to plop down on the grass between his knees. Then she propped up his other leg into a bend so she could lean back against it. She laid her legs across his left leg and started drawing a new picture.

He watched with mild interest as he tilted his head with a wince. His ears were ringing with a call from the dynasty. Sekhmet glanced up at the sky, seeing the castle in his eye mind. He had already angered his dark master enough. He would return soon. For now, he would enjoy keeping an eye on the little mortal.

END OF CHAPTER TWO

**Note: Okay, people. This is chapter two and I want to see if anyone is actually reading this story. I not only revealed who the "little savior" is, but I also revealed which one of the four warlords it is. Tell me your thoughts. Interesting story so far? Was Sekhmet the warlord you thought it was? Or this story flying like a lead balloon?!**


	3. Chapter 3

**R:** Oooh! First review. I hope I'll get more reviews as this story continues on. Seems like my muse comes out to play when I get more and more reviews. Keep reading!

CHAPTER THREE

Tala sat at the kitchen table crunching on her cereal. Cecilia and Marla ran through the kitchen with their backpacks beating rapidly against their backs. Each girl snatched up a breakfast bar from the countertop on their way out the back kitchen door. A tall lean man with piercing blue eyes stepped into the kitchen through the door the girls had just run out.

"I have to go in to town today. Clarice will be back a little after one, but your teacher is coming at 11:30. If you leave the house, lock up and take your house key with you," he told her in a stern voice.

Tala nodded. "I will, Uncle Maurice."

The little girl watched him disappear out the door and waited to hear the truck pulling out before moving. She dropped her half-full cereal bowl into the sink before dashing out of the kitchen, around the corner and up the stairs. Tala grabbed up her backpack which was sitting just in her doorway and dashed back down the stairs.

She stepped outside the door, locked the door, pocketed her key and left for her favorite place. Today was a very special day and she couldn't wait to spend most of the day with her extra special friend. She had told the family all about her friend, but none of them had believed her. Marla had teased her by telling her that no one could have green hair. After that point in the conversation, she didn't care that they thought Sekhmet was an imaginary friend.

Tala looked at her watch as she arrived at her secret place. The current time was 8:02am so she could stay until a little after 11:00am. After that she would have to wander back to the house. She had packed a sandwich in her bag so she could even stay a little longer. Thankfully, her teacher only stayed for an hour then she would complete her work and be able to come back until the big event tonight at 8:00pm.

She nestled against the base of her favorite tree and drew out her coloring book and crayons. She curled her legs up in a crisscross and laid the coloring book in her lap. She opened the pack of crayons and ran her finger over the crayons before picking out a light blue. She hummed softly out loud as she colored away.

A month had passed since she had met her new friend. She enjoyed his daily visits, even if he didn't talk much around her. She didn't know a lot about him, but that suited her fine.

I don't ask him about anything and he doesn't ask me about my family. That seems fair, she thought to herself.

Her thoughts may have seen grown up for someone her age, but her teacher had often told her how very smart she was. Tala finished coloring the picture she had started yesterday and flipped to the next page. This particular page was a festive fall scene and had small pieces to it that

would require extreme carefulness with staying in the lines.

The little brunette lost track of time in a sea of red, orange and brown. When she had colored almost the entire page, Tala looked at her watch. The time now read as 10:52am. Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her of the small breakfast she had eaten earlier. Tala stuffed her coloring book and crayons back into her backpack.

She pulled out a sandwich wrapped in plastic which she unwrapped in her lap. She picked up the sandwich triangle and took a big bite. Chewing her bite quietly, she swiveled her head around to see if her friend was nearby. Her head drooped a little when the time came for her to leave. She _had_ to get back before her teacher arrived.

Thinking her friend would arrive later, Tala slung her zipped up backpack on her back and left for the house. It was almost 11:30 when Tala skipped up the porch steps. She pulled her house key out and it took several jerky tries to get it just right into the keyhole. She had just barely made it in the door when she heard a car pull up into the dirt driveway.

Tala let out a loud groan. She wanted nothing more than to pretend she wasn't home until her teacher was long gone. A loud rapping on the door interrupted that train of thought. For a second, she actually considered going through with it.

Knock, knock. "Tala? Tala, sweetie?" _Fudge_.

Tala let out a quiet groan as she walked to the door. She peeked through the drapes just to make sure it really was her teacher before opening the door. The woman was a dark skinned, portly young woman with short, dark hair and a pair of dark eyes hidden behind large-rimmed glasses.

"Hello, Miss Addams," she greeted with a small smile.

Closing the door behind her teacher, Tala led her into the kitchen and sat down at the table she had occupied before. The teacher snuck a hand into the large black bag she had resting on her opposite shoulder. She pulled out a small, gift-wrapped box which she placed on the table in front of Tala. The little girl's face lit up and she giggled as she pulled it close.

"You remembered!" she exclaimed.

"Of course. I remember all of my students' birthdays. Now let's see. That would make you…" Miss Addams paused to tap her chin in mock deep thought.

Tala giggled again while shaking her head. Her teacher knew good and well how old she was turning today.

"Six? No, no. You're much too smart to be turning just six. Ten? Oh, Heavens no! You're not hitting the double digits just yet," the teacher said out loud in a teasing tone of voice.

"Eight! I'm eight years old today!" Tala told her, smiling.

Miss Addams chuckled lightly while reaching forward to press gently down on top of the little girl's head.

"Go ahead and open it, dearie," she encouraged her.

Unlike someone her age, Tala chose to slowly and carefully unwrap her birthday gift. Because she had her head down, Tala missed her teacher rolling her eyes. The woman cared for the little girl dearly, but she was quite the odd little duck. Tala tore the rest of the paper away and lifted the lid off the box. She smiled softly when she saw what was in the box.

Sitting nicely in the box was a small orange-brown dreamcatcher. It had a few small brown and white beads and feathers attached to it.

"What is this?" Tala asked curiously.

Miss Addams reached into the box to hold the dreamcatcher up by its loop at the top. This allowed the little girl to reach up and run her hand gently over the handcrafted item.

"This is a dreamcatcher. You're supposed to hang it above your bed. While you sleep, the bad dreams get caught in the web and the good dreams go right on through," she explained.

"I love it!" Tala exclaimed.

She handed the dreamcatcher to Tala so she could look at it more closely. Miss Addams asked her what she had been doing for the morning.

"I went outside to my favorite place and I waited for my friend to show up," Tala replied.

"Which friend is that?" Miss Addams asked, this time her confusion set in.

There weren't many kids in the area and Tala rarely left the house so the teacher had no clue who the little girl could be talking about.

"My friend, Sekhmet," Tala told her as if it was obvious.

"Oh. Him."

Miss Addams had expressed her concern to Maurice about Tala's imaginary friend. Most children had an animal or child their age that acted as an imaginary friend, but from Tala's description (and drawing) this was not the case for her. Maurice had put it off as Tala compensating for all the time she spent alone.

"I didn't see him. I'm going to go see him after you leave," Tala added.

While Miss Addams didn't want to encourage this behavior of having an older person for an imaginary friend, she could tell Tala would not be able to focus today. So she told the little girl she was excusing her from school work today. Tala's head snapped up and she cocked her head to the side.

"But don't I have school work?" she asked.

Miss Addams nodded. "It's all review, sweetie. I won't tell Maurice if you don't."

Miss Addams nearly fell backwards out of her seat when the little girl collided with her. She threw her arms around her and squealed loudly.

"Thank you, thank you!"

The little girl was so excited she forgot all about locking the front door behind her as she scooped up her backpack and dashed out the door. Miss Addams chuckled as she threw away the wrapping paper and left the box on the kitchen table. Luckily, she had a spare key to the house.

/…/

Sekhmet couldn't shake the weird feeling he had. It was like something was niggling at him. It was a little after ten in the morning, meaning it was after eleven at night in North Carolina. He had finally discovered why there had been quite the time change when he disappeared to his little haven. It turns out he had been continents away from Japan in the U.S.

Sekhmet placed his ball python back in its container and stood up to pace around his room. Something was off. He thought it might have been one of the other warlords sneaking around his room but a quick check told him they were all in the kitchen eating a late brunch.

/_So what could it be?_/

A sudden thought occurred to him and he turned his attention to a blank wall. He brought up the viewing screen to allow him to see what was happening at the haven. It was raining heavily and lightning lit up the sky. He frowned. He thought he had seen something in the tree. He expanded the image and his eyebrows shot up when another bright flash lit up the area.

Sitting in the crook of a tree, between branches, was the little girl he had been visiting.

/_What the devil is she doing outside in __**that**__ weather? Where the Hell is her family?_/

The image raised too many questions and not enough answers. He waved the image away and disappeared out of his room. Not a moment later, his bedroom door opened and Anubis stuck his head inside. He frowned when he couldn't find the green-haired warlord.

"Well, now where the Hell did you go off to?" he mumbled.

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, Sekhmet appeared close to "their" tree. The rain was letting up a little as he approached the base of the tree. The place Tala was crouched in was a little above his eye level. She was sitting with her knees hugged to her chest and her head buried into her knees.

He had to take a few quiet deep breaths to keep from lashing out at the little girl. Someone so young should _not_ be out in weather like this without proper water-resistant clothing.

"Tala," he called.

Her little head snapped up to reveal a pale face and bright red eyes. It was clear to him she had been crying and, judging by how red her eyes were, had been doing so for a while. She let go of her knees to hold out her arms in an obvious hold me gesture. He was tempted not to help her down, but he decided he could do her that small favor.

Sekhmet stepped closer to the tree and told her to slide her legs down. After doing that, he was able to lift her up by her sides and bring her down. She immediately latched her little arms tightly around his neck and buried her face in his clothed chest. He sighed as he shifted her before sitting himself down on the damp grass at the base of the tree.

She now sat on her knees in his lap. At first, he thought maybe she had started crying again, but then he realized the shaking was from the cold. With one arm around her waist, he let go of his other to quietly summon a small blanket from his room in the dynasty. He then gathered it around her.

"How long have you been out here?" he demanded.

Her reply was muffled by his shirt. He tapped her on the head firmly in an indication he couldn't hear her. Tala turned so part of her face was now visible.

"I don't know. I left after everyone went to bed," she murmured miserably, rubbing her face in his shirt.

Sekhmet estimated that the little girl had probably been outside somewhere between a half hour to an hour. He was broken out of his thoughts by a strained, dry sob.

"I didn't want to miss seeing you. So I snuck out of the house." Sob. "Today was a special day. And I wanted to *sniff* see you."

Sekhmet openly frowned without the little girl looking up to see him. What special day could be today? He was a little familiar with mortal holidays and none were nearby as far as he could tell.

"Today was my birthday. I'm eight."

The voice was so soft he almost hadn't heard her. All the sudden, a strange feeling overcame him. He felt his heart constrict like someone was squeezing it with their bare hands. He tried to think of the last time he had seen the little girl.

/_I __**didn't**__ visit her today. This little __**child**__ was out here late at night, without her family's knowledge and during a downpour…because of __**me**__._/

He couldn't for the life of him figure out why this whole situation bothered him so much. It was _just _a mortal child. He pulled her close in what resembled an awkward hug. He lowered his head to hang over hers as his other hand touched the side of her head.

"I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to make you sad."

If someone had told him a few months ago that he would be comforting a small child and apologizing to said child, he would have assumed they had lost their sanity after being bitten by one of his more venomous snakes. He was surprised Tala hadn't told him beforehand, but because of her young age, he thought maybe she had meant to tell him about it earlier that day.

Looking at the position of the moon, Sekhmet noticed that it was now after midnight. He could tell the little girl was starting to show how truly exhausted she was by her droopy eyes. He stood up with her in his arms. He told her he was going to take her home now that the rain was done.

She mumbled the directions to him and pointed her small hand in the direction she always came. He started walking down the old beaten path. He walked through the trees, past a large assortment of bushes and flowers, and then came to an old dirt road. With Tala half-asleep, he had to rely on his memory of what he had told her.

_Go down the dirt road. My house has the brown truck and the small fence._ Sekhmet didn't pay attention to how many houses he passed before coming to Tala's house. He couldn't see much details of the second-story house due to the moon disappearing behind some clouds. However, as he walked around to the back of the house, he was able to see an oak tree with a long, thick branch that led right to an open window.

Sekhmet made sure he had a good hold on Tala before bending down a little and leaping up onto the branch. He landed on it with ease while only slipping just a little on the wet branch. He jogged swiftly across the branch and climbed through the window without a sound.

Sekhmet didn't bother to spare a glance around the room as he set Tala down on her desk chair. The little girl snapped awake and looked around the room as if just realizing where she was. She was dry, but her skin was freezing cold and she needed to change her clothes. She stood up and disappeared through a door. He only had a moment to wait before she reappeared in a fresh set of pajamas.

He cracked a small smile when the little girl sniffled and rubbed at one of her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"Bed time," he whispered.

It wouldn't do for any of the other inhabitants to hear him. Tala walked over to her small bed in the corner of her room and threw the covers back. She climbed up into the bed and snuggled under the covers. The green-haired warrior pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Sleep and rest, child."

Sekhmet started to stand up, but paused when he saw a child's drawing of what appeared to be a snake. It was up on the wall over Tala's bed and her name was written at the bottom of the paper. Tala craned her neck back to see what he was looking at and smiled.

"I like snakes," she murmured.

He was about to speak when his head almost split in two. His dark master was angry and calling him back; he knew this was never a good combination. He knew this meant he wouldn't be able to return as soon as he would prefer. A loud sneeze from Tala temporarily distracted him from the annoying pain.

"I'll be back in two days[1]," he murmured.

Tala was obviously trying to stay awake, but obviously failing by the large yawn she let out.

"You'll be back on Monday?" she asked softly.

Sekhmet glanced over at a calendar that was hung up on the other part of the wall the bed leaned against. He saw that Friday, September 13, had been marked as her birthday.

"No. On Sunday. I'll spend the _whole_ day with you."

Tala smiled weakly as the exhaustion finally set in.

"Promise?" she murmured before falling asleep.

Just before he left to answer his master's summons, he murmured, "Promise."

END OF CHAPTER THREE

[1] Even though it is technically now Saturday, he's still thinking it as being Friday so he made an oopsie when he said two days.

**Author's Note: Come on, people! I want to know who's getting into the story and how you like it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**jrzgrl02: **I don't know quite where the idea came from. I think it may have been in a dream. Oh, I can only imagine the different reactions they would have to Tala. Oooh, the possibilities! Hehehehe I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Queen of suspense, huh? I like it!

**collegegal:** Hey, girl! Glad to see you checking this story out, too. I am trying my darndest to keep him in character while showing his human side. Glad to hear I seem to be succeeding.

**Author's Note: Enjoy the new chapter!**

Last time:

"_Promise?" she murmured before falling asleep._

_Just before he left to answer his master's summons, he murmured, "Promise."_

CHAPTER FOUR

Anubis was eating dinner when Cale walked in with an open scowl on his face.

"Whatever it is, _I_ didn't do it," Anubis said, without picking his head up.

Cale scowled even further, earning him a chuckle from the auburn haired warlord.

"Have you seen Sekhmet? He's disappeared _again_!" the Warlord of Corruption growled.

Anubis took in another mouthful before answering through their armor mental link.

[Dais said he's working with a few new snakes. He's been in and out with studying them and collecting their venom. I think he's catching new snakes in the Mortal Realm.]

Cale growled something under his breath as he retrieved a plate of food for himself. He sat down at the table next to the younger warlord. The three warlords had been irritated with their fourth not returning promptly after his defeats from the ronins. Then he had begun disappearing at odd times of the day and more frequently.

Finally, the other day, Master Talpa had summoned his warlords to give them a mission to attack the Ronin Warriors. Sekhmet had been particularly late to answer which had not made the evil overlord happy. He had punished the Warlord of Venom and sent the other three out to attack the ronins while they were out camping. Upon returning from a somewhat successful mission, Dais had gone to question their brother-at-arms.

[He should feel fortunate that Master Talpa didn't send him to the pits.] Cale.

Inwardly, they both shuddered. None of them cared to visit the fire pits, or pits, as they were commonly referred to by the warlords. The fire would burn painfully through their armor yet leave not a single burn mark on their bodies. However, the pain was purely psychological, courtesy of Badamon.

[It's only because he knows Sekhmet is experimenting with his new venoms on mortals before using them on the ronin whelps.] Anubis.

/…/

"And Cecilia says that's a Gordonia flower," Tala said, pointing at a group of white flowers.

Tala was giving her special friend a tour through the garden of flowers he had passed through the night of the rainstorm. He was starting to think the small smile on his face was going to become permanent when around the little girl. He had met her at eight this morning and it was only nine now.

Glancing down at the hand that held his, Sekhmet was pleased to see Tala's bracelet was still securely fastened around her wrist. His smile grew a fraction when Tala held up her other hand close to her face. Twisted through her fingers with its head resting in the palm her hand was a tiny snake. Tala had been especially excited when he had given her the belated birthday gift. He had been breeding snakes for many a year with the purpose of pure experiment.

This particular snake was a baby Kenyan Sand Boa. It was a light cream color underneath and had orange & black splotches running along the top. The little critter was only a few months old, but was different from its typical species. It still occasionally burrowed in sand like normal sand boas yet didn't need to eat a whole lot and was actually quite awake during the day. Plus, this sand boa enjoyed traveling around with a person, whether in their pocket or somewhere else.

What really brought an amused smile to his face was that she had named the snake Herbert. Unable to contain his curiosity, he had questioned her on why that particular name. Her answer had been plain and simple.

"He looks like a Herbert."

Sekhmet was broken out of his thoughts when Tala dropped his hand and let out a series of coughs. He watched curiously as she pulled a small object out of her pocket. She shook it, brought it up to her mouth, and inhaled when she pushed down a silver button on top. She took a few small breaths before putting the object back in her pocket.

Tala held out her hand to take his back. She must have seen something on his face for she spoke as soon as he gripped her hand.

"That's my inhaler. It helps with the coughing before my asthma gets bad," she explained.

He understood why the small object was called an inhaler, but he had never heard of asthma. For now, he left it alone while they walked back to the little waterfall and their favorite tree. It was probably just a mild mortal cold or something.

Tala situated herself on the grass leaning partly on him with her sketchbook and colored pencils. He took her elbow and firmly moved it so that it wasn't sticking uncomfortably into his gut through his shirt. He shot the side of her head an annoyed look.

Sekhmet looked down at the drawing the little girl was working on. She was currently drawing one of the more colorful flowers from the garden. For such a young one, Tala impressed him with how artistically talented she was. Her drawings had a realistic look to them but still had touches to them that reminded any onlookers of her younger age.

So lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize when Tala had stopped drawing. It was only when he felt a weight on his lap that he looked down. The little girl was apparently a little more tired than she had originally appeared. She was sleeping on top of her sketchbook with her face tucked into the corner of her folded arms. This was all on top of her right leg near his knee. The baby sand boa was curled up on the back of her right hand fast asleep as well.

Sekhmet reached his arm out and summoned a small square pillow from his dynasty room. He maneuvered Tala's sketchbook out from underneath her and moved her so she was resting more comfortably. Now she had her arms wrapped limply around her stomach and the baby sand boa laid out on the side of her leg by her knee.

As he brought his hand up to move a piece of hair out of Tala's face, he was startled to find a heat radiating from her forehead. He moved the hair strand behind her ear before laying a hand flat on her forehead. She seemed a little warm to him. He brought the hand up to his own forehead before bringing it back down to hers.

/_She's running a low fever. What fragile beings these mortals are._/

Tala shivered a little and buried her face deeper into the pillow. He moved his hand down to her arm where she felt cool to his touch. Sekhmet suspected she was probably coming down with a cold as a late result from being out in the rain a few nights ago. He summoned a small blanket then laid it gently over Tala to cover her from below her feet to her chin.

As he sat there, he found that he was content to just watch the child sleep. It made his life seem…normal. Sekhmet let out a loud snort. Neither he nor the other warlords had led a "normal" life since obtaining their armors and coming to serve Master Talpa.

"What are you doing to me, little one?" he murmured

He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be watching a mortal child sleep. He shouldn't be caring that she had possibly caught a cold after waiting out in the rain for him. Yet here he was doing just that.

/…/

That night, after a fun day of spending time with her bestest[1] friend, Tala was much too excited to fall asleep. She was very pleased that Uncle Maurice and Aunt Clarice allowed her to close her bedroom door at night now. She was sitting up in her bed dressed in her pajamas when her bedroom window slid open and her friend climbed through.

She bounced up and down excitedly as he came over to sit beside her on the bed. She had pestered him earlier until Sekhmet had finally promised to come visit her tonight to wish her a good night.

"I had so much fun today! I'm much too excited," Tala whispered.

Sekhmet shushed her sternly and put a hand on her shoulder to push her back down against her pillow. Still smiling, Tala reached behind her to pull a book out.

"Will you read this book for me? It helps me go to sleep," Tala asked quietly.

With a small sneer on his face, Sekhmet hesitated only for a moment before taking the book from her. She scooted over so he could sit side by side with her with his legs stretched out. He looked at the cover, shrugged, and opened the book. Tala snuggled down beside him and leaned on him so she could see the pictures.

"Good night, room. Good night, moon. Good night, cow jumping over the moon. Good night, light. And the red balloon."

As he read through the story, he felt Tala yawn and sag further against him. He, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to tear it up, burn it to pieces, and dance on top of its ashes.

"…Good night, stars. Good night, air. Good night, noises everywhere."

Sekhmet closed the book with thoughts of who in their right mind wrote such an idiotic book. All it consisted of was saying good night to various inanimate objects and animals. Oh, and an old hag [2]. He looked down to see Tala almost completely asleep. He stood up and helped her lay all the way down and pulled her covers up to her cin.

She murmured something so quietly he almost missed it. He stood shocked and half bent over her to see if she would say it again.

/_Did I mishear her? She couldn't have meant to say that._/

However, in her half-sleepy state, Tala murmured it again but a little louder.

"G'night, big brother."

/…/

/_Did she really mean that?_/

Upon returning to the dynasty, he had spent the remainder of the morning and all afternoon in a trance-like state. He had emerged from his room to eat lunch and Dais had convinced him to play a chess game with him which he had lost miserably. Then he had tried working with some of his serpents, trained for a little bit, and listened halfheartedly to Anubis and Cale plot out an attack on the ronins.

Now he lay wide awake in his bed staring up at the ceiling. He had a rattlesnake sleeping curled up on his stomach. One arm lay by his side while the other was on his stomach. He ran his thumb gently down the smooth scales with practiced ease. The snake's rattle was making a small sound, letting the warlord know how pleased it was with the attention.

Sekhmet had only known the little girl for a little over two months. Never had anyone's words struck him as hard as hers had. It wasn't that she had insulted him; no, he felt like she had bestowed upon him a gift he didn't deserve. He sat up with a groan and slid the snake gently down to his lap without disturbing its rest.

/_I'm one of Master Talpa's four Dark Warlords. I've __**murdered**__ and tortured a countless number of mortals, reduced villages and towns to nothing, and caused great destruction._/

Even as he reminded himself of these facts, a million more questions ricocheted through his mind. Why did he continue to see the little mortal? Why did seeing her smile bring forth a warm feeling from within his chest? And why did his chest burn painfully whenever the little girl was sad because of something he had done or hadn't done?

Sekhmet fell back onto his bed and rolled onto his side, bringing the rattlesnake down to curl up beside him. He smothered his face into his pillow with a big sigh. It was best he try and sleep on it.

/…Two weeks later…/

"SNAKE FANG STRIKE!"

He had never stood a chance. His fellow ronins were occupied in their battle with the other warlords a few miles away. It had been easy to lure Torrent away and the fight had quickly turned in his favor. The youngest ronin now lay unconscious with the bottom half of his body in the water. The battle had ripped his armor from him, leaving him only in his normal mortal clothes.

Sekhmet could sense Master Talpa wasn't watching either battle and his fellow warlords were wrapped up in their own fight with the other ronins. He banished his armor into his subarmor and crouched down beside the boy. The ronin had fought well, but he had been no match for his rival warlord.

The gentle current started to pull the boy from the bank but without thinking the warlord snagged him by the arm and pulled him from the water. He laid him on his side and checked him over. The injuries were only minor; he appeared more exhausted than anything else.

/_I should kill him now or take him prisoner_./

Although these thoughts occurred to him, he didn't move to summon his armor (kill) or pick up the boy (prisoner). All he could think of was Tala's face and how she would react if he took the ronin's life or held him prisoner. The thought of her looking distressed or worse…_disappointed_ made him strangely uncomfortable and guilty.

Sekhmet brought two fingers down to the ronin's throat to check for a pulse. It was a steady beat which reassured him the ronin would be fine. He stood up and looked down at the ronin brat.

"Guess it's your lucky day, Torrent."

Now he wasn't quite sure what action to take next. His fellow warlords didn't need or want his help. Plus with how his "little friend" was affecting him he could give away his _weakness_ in front of them, thus royally screwing him over. If they suspected anything was wrong with him, he would more than likely find his ass burning in Badamon's fire pits and would never see Tala again.

The thought of not being able to see the small child disturbed him. It disturbed him more than he cared to admit_._ He had come to a realization just shortly before the battle had begun. He saw Tala as a little sister; _his_ little sister.

When growing up, he had been an only child. Over the centuries, he and the other warlords had become brothers of sorts with Anubis, their infamous leader, standing in as the "baby" brother. Sekhmet chuckled. Anubis was only twenty or so years younger than the rest of them, but they never let him forget he was the youngest.

All and all, he now thought of Tala as a little sister. It had been a surprisingly happy almost three months spending time together. Tala often referred to him as her big brother yet he had not openly questioned her about it. _Yet_.

Suddenly, he saw a flash of light and felt the ground tremble. His gaze shot in the direction of where the others were as he sensed his "brothers" return to the dynasty.

"Cye!"

Sekhmet cursed silently as heard Hardrock calling for his fellow ronin. He sensed that the other ronins would soon be upon him. He also sensed his dark master calling him back to the dynasty. He disappeared with a smirk just as Hardrock spotted him.

/…/

Sekhmet pulled the chicken and rice dish out to set it on the counter. Master Talpa had summoned him back to the dynasty, but not directly to him. The other three warlords had been with him for an hour which didn't bode well for any of them. On a whim, he had decided to fix lunch even though it was Cale's turn to cook for the day. He dished out some food onto a plate for himself before disappearing down the hall and into his room.

He sat down at his work table to eat his lunch and look over the current work. There were pieces of fresh snake skin shedding which he planned to use with some of the experiments he was conducting. Sitting up straight, he had a sudden urge to check in on his little sister.

The screen on the wall to the side flashed to life. It showed an image of the little girl's bedroom where she was sleeping soundly. Throwing his hand up, he made the image zoom in on her. She rolled over in her sleep and let out a few short coughs.

He frowned. The little mortal had begun coughing a lot more lately and he doubted it had anything to do with the asthma.

/_I'll ask her how's she feeling tomorrow._/

Sekhmet closed the image and the wall shifted back to its normal appearance. Had he kept the image a little longer, he would have seen a woman come in to check on the little girl. She took the little girl's temperature and stared down at the thermometer with a deep frown.

"Not again."

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

[1] Not a typo. I figured since she's a child, she would think of him not as her "best" friend, but her "bestest" friend.

[2] It's supposed to be an old woman. However, I think we can all tell how much Sekhmet "loved" this book. LOL

**I hope you all enjoyed the newest chapter to "Spirit of the Armors: Spirit's Awakening." So just type a nice little review in the box below and hit Submit. Many thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**jrzgrl02: **Oh, you will find out very well what the woman meant by "Not again" in this chapter. I'm really trying to stay true to this inner struggle for him. He and his 'brothers' have been at each other's throats off and on so he's never cared for someone so much. That's why I could totally see this happening because we all know children have the power. Lol I agree with the Lays potato chips, especially the baked and better for you ones. I don't plan on stopping my suspense writing any time soon. Enjoy the ending of this chapter. ;)

CHAPTER FIVE

There was a nice breeze out today. Sekhmet glanced up at the sun to determine the time of day. It was half past eleven and he had yet to see Tala. Starting to become annoyed about her absence, Sekhmet trekked off towards her house. He was risking life and limb to cross the realms to be here. Translation: The little girl needed to be here when she said she would be.

The path had become familiar to him, but this was the first time had ever walked it during the day. There were not many houses around except Tala's few neighbors. As he approached Tala's house, he saw a woman standing at the end of the drive putting mail in the mailbox.

He stopped unsure of what to do. She looked up and spotted him. She frowned with a mild narrowed gaze and kept her gaze on him as he walked closer. Suddenly, her face broke out in a soft smile.

"Well, glory be! And here I thought you was just a figment of little Tala's emagination."

Sekhmet kept a blank face. Other than the ronins with battle, Tala was the only mortal he had interacted with in over a century. He wasn't sure what to do, let alone say. He should have disappeared before she spotted him. The woman waved him to her as she turned to go up to the house.

"Are you…?" Sekhmet drew a blank on the name of Tala's aunt.

"Clarice? Oh no, dearie. I'm just a neighbor. I live just down the road with my dear Edgar."

Since her back was to him, Sekhmet was able to pull a face at the name. What type of parents would name their son Edgar?!

"Maurice is out at the fields and Clarice had to run some errands. And, of course, Marla and Cecilia are at school. Clarice asked that I keep an eye on Tala for the day while she's away. Poor dear spiked a fever last night," she said as she led him into the house.

He followed her through the entrance hall and into the kitchen. If Tala was sick that would explain why she hadn't come to meet him. Sekhmet shrugged. It was a decent excuse.

"I'm sure the little dear would love to see you. I was just about to make her lunch. Give me a moment and I'll send you up with it."

While waiting, the wary warlord stepped back out into the hall to look at family photographs. He saw many different photographs of a four member family in various combinations; mother with daughters, daughters together, daughters separate, etc. After scanning the wall a few times, he was only able to locate a single photograph of Tala and it looked at least a year old.

Surely, these mortals couldn't be that strange, Sekhmet thought.

He walked back into the kitchen to question the woman whose name he still didn't know. She was just finishing fixing a grilled cheese sandwich and a small bowl of fruit. She held it out to him as he approached but he didn't accept the items at first.

"Why is there only one photograph of Tala on the wall?" he asked nonchalantly.

The woman smiled sadly. "She didn't tell you…did she? It shouldn't surprise me."

Sekhmet's confusion grew. The woman set the plate down and sat down at the kitchen table. She let out a quiet yet meaningful sigh as she interlocked her fingers on the table in front of her.

"Tala…" she paused. "Tala doesn't have a family."

The warlord was floored. He had seen mangled bodies, gruesome blood rituals, and villages laid to waste. But _this_! He couldn't understand what the Hell was going on now. What was this mortal hag talking about?! The woman continued on after a short pause.

"Maurice and Clarice are not related to Tala. Neither are Cecilia and Marla. Cecilia and Marla are _their_ _nieces_. Their parents died in a car accident when they were very young," she explained.

Sekhmet's curiosity outweighed the need to "play it safe" when interacting around the mortals. How did Tala fit into all of this?

"What of Tala? And her family?" he asked.

The woman let out another sigh. Sekhmet briefly wondered if all mortal women made this particular sound often. If so, it was a wonder any of them ever managed to find a guy who would put up with it.

"When Tala was three, she was found sitting outside a local fire station when firefighters returned from answering a call. She had a few small things with her and there was a note attached to her jacket. Her mother…her mother abandoned her and she had no other family. She's been bouncing from foster home to foster home. She's been with this family for a little under a year now."

Now the warrior was beginning to understand why Tala referred to him as her big brother.

/…/

Tala was sitting up in her bed coloring a picture in her coloring book when Sekhmet walked through the door. Her face broke out in a big grin and she clapped happily like a silly monkey toy with cymbals.

"You came to see me!" she exclaimed.

He chuckled. "I came."

Tala scooted over with her pillow, thus allowing him to sit down beside her on the small bed. He closed the coloring book and moved it before placing her lunch plate on her lap. She bumped her head against the side of his arm with a laughing grin on her face. He turned to place the coloring book next to the tall glass of yellow liquid[1] sitting on the bedside table.

"I had a fever this morning and Aunt Clarice said I should stay home," Tala said before picking up a triangle piece of her sandwich.

He allowed her to take a few bites before speaking. The trip coming up the stairs had helped him decide how to go about this.

"Your neighbor Rose told me this is your foster home. That this is your _ninth_ foster home since you were three." Tala brought her sandwich back down slowly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Her response was so quiet that if he hadn't been sitting so close he probably wouldn't have heard her.

"_I didn't want you to leave_," she murmured.

The warlord held back a deep sigh. This little mortal was going to be the death of him. Sekhmet wrapped an arm around her shoulders so his hand landed on the shoulder he was leaning on and leaned his head on top of hers.

"I'm not going anywhere, little sister."

The small smile on her face was contagious as he felt the corners of his mouth turn up. He glanced down over her head as she continued eating. When she reached across her plate to pick up the other half, his smile was gone in a second. His other hand shot out to seize her wrist. He used said hand to pull down the long sleeve of her pajama shirt.

There was a large hand-shaped bruise on the middle of her arm. Judging by how dark it was starting to become, it had happened recently.

"**Who did **_**this**_?" Sekhmet demanded in a low growl.

Tala turned her head away and mumbled, "It's nothing."

Sekhmet removed his arm from around her shoulders and knelt down by the bed. He grabbed her firmly by the chin and pulled her face back around so she was facing him.

"Who did this, Tala?" he asked, softening his voice as best as he could.

"Uncle Maurice."

/…/

_**THUD**_. Rose looked up at the ceiling and clucked her tongue.

"Oh, dear. He found the bruise," she murmured.

A few seconds later, she heard him storm down the stairs before twisting around at the bottom of the stairs and entering the kitchen. He was the epitome of quiet rage. His body language said he was calm, but the venomous look in his eyes contradicted that. If only she knew how close he had come to losing control to his armor.

"What was he _thinking_?" he growled in a low voice.

"Clarice told me about it before she left. She didn't want me to overreact like you are. You have to understand that Maurice forgets how strong he can be. Tala had a fever and she wanted to leave the house, even after they both told her she had to stay. He grabbed her a little too roughly, but he let go the instant she let out a yelp," Rose explained.

The intensity of his gaze lessened marginally but his body remained tense.

"Has he ever struck her?" he asked in a very serious tone.

He would be a very dead mortal if he had. Sekhmet would see to that personally.

"_Never_," she said in an equally serious tone of voice.

Sekhmet let the anger slowly dissipate as Rose walked over to a large hand bag which she pulled a thin folder out from.

"I emagine you noticed Tala's bracelet," Rose said, sitting back down at the table.

Sekhmet chose to stand while leaning forward with his hands on the back of a chair. He nodded his head.

"Do ya know what it means?" Small shake of the head. "It be a medical bracelet. At her last foster home, it was discovered that Tala is sick."

Sekhmet frowned. He didn't like the grave look on her face. It told him she didn't mean something simple like the mortal flu or cold. Perhaps she was over exaggerating things.

"It can't be that bad. How sick is she?"

Rose grimaced.

"It varies," she said, sliding the folder towards him. "This will give you a better idea of what she's up against."

/…/

**Name: Tala Lynette Carson**

**Age: 7 years old**

**Pediatrician: Dr. Maxwell Connor**

**Hair Color: Black**

**Eye Color: Amber**

**Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Maurice and Clarice Smith (foster parents)**

The first page consisted of basic information on Tala's general background. It also listed the schools she had gone to and how many times she had been absent due to illness or other reasons. The number was staggering for such a young one. She had obviously spent more time out of school than she did in it.

Sekhmet flipped over to the second and third pages. These pages consisted of her medical background with very little information on her family background. It turns out she was allergic to penicillin (whatever the Hell that was). Aside from that, it really only listed her mother's family's medical history.

/_Heart conditions, diabetes in the great-grandfather, and high blood pressure._/

Tala coughed roughly in her sleep, causing him to look up. Her coughing sounded really congested so he stood up and shifted her so she was lying on her side instead of her back. This seemed to help soothe her coughing fit to end in a soft, drawn-out sigh. He patted her gently on the head before returning to the desk chair and reopening the folder.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth pages of the packet were the results of a series of tests given over a period of three months. These apparently had gone on with her previous foster family. There were sticky notes on the papers, breaking down the payments into portions with the last foster family apparently paying a great deal. The eighth page consisted of a summary of the completed tests.

The ninth page actually named what was wrong with Tala.

***All scans and tests results have led to the diagnosis of Marion's Disease in its beginning stages.**

**Marion's Disease is a rare disorder found predominantly in males and diagnosed as early as age four. Not much is known if this particular disorder is genetic. Characteristics vary case by case. Some of the common characteristics are **

**episodic bouts of elevated temperatures (low to high fevers)**

**sudden breakouts of rash on the arms and legs**

**fainting spells**

**asthmatic attacks (can eventually grow out of this)**

**Other possible symptoms that can progress in older age can be any of the following: mild seizures, occasional loss of appetite, hearing loss, and …**

Sekhmet let out a loud sigh as he read through the final page of the packet. There wasn't a lot of information on Marion's Disease and no cure or medications were listed for it. This threw him off balance because it sounded like Tala could possibly get worse over time.

It was starting to get late and he needed to get home and rest before his "work" day began. He walked over to Tala's bedside and bent down to place a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Feel better soon, little sister. I'll see you tomorrow," he whispered.

/…/

"You've been out of sorts today."

Sekhmet broke his gaze from Anubis and Cale's sparring to regard his best friend sitting beside him. Dais was reclined backwards with his arms crossed over his chest with his gaze on him. Out of the three of them, Dais interacted with him the most and sometimes provided him with specimens. This had earned him the unofficial title of best friend many years ago.

"It's nothing," he replied.

Dais snorted. He had known the man for more than a lifetime and he knew when something was bothering him. If he had to hazard a guess, he would say something was off with one of his new snakes. Sekhmet must have read his mind as he turned his gaze away and spoke again.

"One of my snakes is sick," Sekhmet said.

Dais nodded in understanding. Just as he thought.

"What's wrong with it?"

/_What's with the twenty questions? None of them are __**ever**__ this curious about my serpents__**. **__Including him._**/**

"I'm not sure. It's not contagious to the others, but it's severe enough to noticeably affect the snake," Sekhmet replied.

Dais made an hmm sound at the back of his throat. Sekhmet had been working with snakes for as long as he had known him. If there was a problem with one, he would figure out how to fix it.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Dais said, leaning forward and ending the conversation.

/_I hope you're right_./

Sekhmet masked a sigh with taking a big breath. He certainly did hope Dais was right. Tala was a part of his life now and he couldn't imagine what he would do without her in it. He only hoped the disease wouldn't get worse since it was more prominent in males.

/…/

It was starting to get chilly out, but Sekhmet was pleased. He had always preferred the colder temperatures and Tala had gotten much better after a few days so today he would get to see her. The foster family had not met him yet but they now believed Tala when she spoke about him; Rose had told them about his visit.

He heard Tala running up the path which brought a smile to his face. However, it was ripped away abruptly by the panicked look on Tala's face. She ran straight to him and threw herself into his arms as he bent down to catch her. Her little arms squeezed his neck tightly while she buried her face into his chest. He felt her body tense up as a sob wracked her body.

Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong. Could the disease have gotten worse? But then if it had would she have been able to come running to him? He waited until Tala had calmed down enough to speak to question her.

"What's wrong?"

Tala pulled back so she could look up at him with wide, tear filled eyes. What she said next turned his insides cold and stopped his heart.

"I'm going away."

END OF CHAPTER FIVE

[1] This 'yellow liquid' is Gatorade. I figured Sekhmet's never seen it or drank it before so he doesn't know that it's anything other than a yellow liquid.

**Author's Note: I am just having way too much fun with this story. Can you tell? **


	6. Chapter 6

**jrzgrl02:** Yep, yep! Intensity is my middle name. Hehehe Just read below and find out not only what Sekhmet does, but where Tala will be going. Thank you, thank you! I do try to keep my stories interesting to my readers and reviewers.

CHAPTER SIX

Last time:

"_What's wrong?"_

_Tala pulled back so she could look up at him with wide, tear filled eyes. What she said next turned his insides cold and stopped his heart._

"_I'm going away."_

Sekhmet held her back at arm's length and watched as large tears flowed down Tala's face. Her bottom lip trembled as she let out another heart-wrenching sob. He had to unscramble his confused thoughts before he was able to speak with a clear voice.

"What are you talking about?" Sekhmet asked her, trying to keep his voice calm.

She let out a big sniffle as she wiped her nose using the back of her arm. It took several wracking sobs and a few more sniffles to get herself to a point where she could attempt to speak in a comprehensive manner.

"M-Mrs. T-T-T-Taylor came b-back for her v-v-visit. She told m-m-me I have t-to l-l-leave. I c-c-can't st-st-stay with the f-family anym-m-more," Tala sobbed.

She was…leaving?! His new little friend, the little girl he had come to identify as his little sister, was going away. Possibly far away.

Why do I find this mildly upsetting, he pondered.

"Tala! Tala!"

Sekhmet nearly fell over backwards when Tala threw herself back into his arms with a fresh sob. The loud, feminine voice apparently was familiar to the little girl who now clung to him like a boa constrictor around its prey. Standing up, he fumbled with balancing her in his arms and held her as she reburied her face in his chest.

A figure soon appeared on the path and walked into the opening area. The figure turned out to be an older woman with graying hair pulled back in a bun and short-rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose. Her gaze zeroed in on the duo in which she looked only slightly surprised to see the little girl in his arms. Despite Tala's presence in Sekhmet's arms, the old woman only focused on the little girl.

"Tala, we _must_ go. Come pack your things and get in the car," the woman ordered sternly.

Sekhmet gasped; he was surprised to find his oxygen slightly cut off as Tala's grip tightened. For such a little mortal, she had an impressive amount of strength. Come to think of it. He didn't quite like this woman, either. She had a look to kill that reminded him of one of his spitting cobras. Just before it went after Cale. Ha ha.

"_Who_…are you?" he demanded, bringing a hand up to the back of Tala's neck.

The woman actually had the gall to look offended.

"_I_ am Mrs. Amelia Taylor, Tala's _Social Worker_. I've come to take her to her new foster home. Who are _you_?" she demanded, giving him a fierce look over the rim of her glasses.

This woman had nothing on his dark master. He'd been on the good side, bad side, and I-am- going-to-die side of Master Talpa. She would have to be at least half demon to give him cause for concern.

Thanks to Rose, he knew what a Social Worker was. However, he didn't understand any of this. Rose had said it would be highly unlikely Tala would leave her current foster home due to there being plenty of space and support for her.

"I'm her brother," he said, plain and simple.

He had never said that out loud to anyone other than Tala. The words had felt so foreign on his tongue yet there he was announcing it to this mortal woman.

"I highly doubt that, but _fine._ Now, Tala Lynette Carson, you come with me _**this instant**_," the older woman growled, her patience waning.

Sekhmet looked down as he felt Tala shake her head vigorously, ruining his shirt with her tears and stuffy nose. He did _not_ like this woman and Hell would have to freeze over permanently for him to even think of letting the little mortal leave with this hag. And he told her just as much.

"Go to Hell, you hag."

Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline while Tala let out a small giggle and loosened her grip a little. For upsetting the little girl, the woman was lucky to still be standing and not missing a limb or two.

"_Excuse me_! I am sorry, but Tala must come with me. Her foster family doesn't have the necessary resources and finances to help her maintain her health. She's being transferred out of the state to a family in Florida where she will get the care she needs," Mrs. Taylor explained.

"And this family? I'm sure I can assume she doesn't know them. No. _Hell_ _no_. You're _not_ taking her anywhere. Tala is staying with me."

Had his head been a little clearer he might have realized what he had said and registered what the surprised look on the Social Worker's face meant. However, it only registered when Tala leaned back in his arms to look at him eye-to-eye.

"Really? I can come stay with you, big brother?"

Oh, damn [1].

/…/

"What the Hell was I thinking?!"

Evidently, he had _not_ been thinking or he would have realized he had offered to take in a young mortal child; to his room in the dynasty where a foul-tempered overlord, a twisted spirit, and three warlords also lived. There was no way he was going to be able to get away with this. However, thoughts of not taking Tala with him brought back the image of Tala's face when he had made his claim.

When she had leaned back, her eyes had been locked on him with a hopeful glint in them. Her smile had been small, as though expecting him to take back what he had said. He now felt that his meeting the little girl was some twisted quirk of Fate. There _was_ a way to get around this. The warlord was just going to have to be very sneaky about it.

/_I only have a day. The…__**Social Worker**__ told me the family could give me a day to prepare for Tala's arrival._/ (Note: That was the nicest thing he could call that hag.)

First, he locked himself up in his room and prepared his room for his new soon-to-be roommate. He knew he would have to keep Tala mostly confined to his room; mainly for her own safety. There were rare occasions when the others came into his rooms, but he would still need to keep her in a location where they wouldn't 'accidentally' run into her.

For temporary housing, he would have her sleep in the bathroom. He had the nicest bathroom of the quartet which included a bathtub, shower, closet and long sink. He placed a variety of pillows in the bathtub and two blankets in the bathtub. Sekhmet wasn't sure if Tala would be up for sleeping in a hammock so he figured this would work for now.

He skipped over lunch time in favor of getting everything together. He cleared out the bathroom closet to put her stuff in. Most of the stuff he had brought here with him was her clothes and a few small items. Tala's teacher had showed up at the house when they had gone to get her stuff and, after hearing what was happening, assured him she would get Tala ready for homeschooling. When packing her stuff for him, Tala had quietly explained what homeschooling was.

After making sure everything was in its place, he moved on to his bedroom where he cleaned up. His room wasn't really a mess, but he wanted the little girl to feel welcome when he brought her. The afternoon disappeared as he moved about. He was fortunate that Master Talpa was giving the ronins a short break from their attacks.

As the evening began, Sekhmet started mixing an odd assortment of materials together. Venom of a cobra; skin shedding of a boa constrictor; crushed up fangs of a rare species; and more. It was a concoction he had accidentally created a few years ago. When exposed to open air, it had successfully put to sleep his fellow warlords, the dark overlord, and the dark spirit. Upon waking twenty-four hours later, none of them had realized the time lapse. He had commemorated the recipe to memory in case he should ever need it.

/_And here I thought I'd be using it on those ronins whelps._/

This was the first time he had thought of the rival warriors since his lack of interest in killing Torrent. He was beginning to understand why they fought so passionately for the mortals they were working so hard to protect. Jerking his head to the side, he looked at the time and realized he needed to move quickly.

He had to put the rest of his plan in action. He picked out one of his small, black snakes and gently doused the snake with some of the chemical. He commanded the snake where to go before watching it slip silently out of the room. Sekhmet bent down to place the small beaker in the air vent and used his armor power to blow the scent down the vent. The vent was connected to the throne room and Badamon's spirit room.

The scent traveled in an invisible air down the vent towards the two rooms. Letting out a yawn, Sekhmet finally left his room in search of something to eat. Passing down the hall and through the living room, Sekhmet noted that Anubis was fast asleep on the couch.

/_Sleep well, brother. You won't be waking up anytime soon._/

Sekhmet smiled. Now he could get some rest (without being effected by his own potion, of course) and move on to the next phase.

/…/

Tala's smile was small, but it seemed to glow brighter than ever before. She walked beside Sekhmet with a full backpack strapped to her back and her hand clenching his. He had a duffle bag thrown over his opposite shoulder so it wouldn't beat against Tala while they walked.

The family had said their goodbyes to Tala with the one child, Cecilia, giving the little girl a big hug. "Uncle" Maurice and "Aunt" Clarice hadn't shed any tears over the loss, but Clarice had given Tala a small bag of homemade cookies. The neighbor Rose had stopped them on their way past her house. She had actually given Sekhmet the duffle bag of unknown items. All Rose had told him was that it was "full of a few things Tala will like."

"So is your home far away?" Tala asked.

Sekhmet sucked in a breath and slowly released it. He had debated on what to tell Tala about her new 'home.' Finally, about an hour before coming to pick up Tala, he had decided to tell her half-truths. As smart as she was, he didn't believe she should have to know _everything_.

"Actually, I live far away from here, but it'll only take a blink of an eye and we'll be there," Sekhmet told her.

Tala turned her head to frown up at her big brother. She asked him how that was possible.

"Well, you see, I have…very special abilities that allow me to travel great distances in a short time."

"Oh."

Sekhmet chuckled. The little girl now had a curious look on her face as she processed the new information. When they started walking past the flowers, she spoke again.

"Do you live alone?" Tala asked.

"No. There are three other guys that live with me. We each have our own rooms and you're going to be staying with me in mine," Sekhmet answered.

"Do you have a pet?"

Sekhmet chuckled. If she considered over ten snakes of various size, color, and breed a 'pet' then yes. He told her about his snakes.

"Cool!"

As they approached their special place, Sekhmet stopped and knelt down to Tala's level so they were looking eye to eye. Tala must have sensed something because she spoke before he could.

"There's something wrong," she said more than asked.

Sekhmet slowly did a combination switch-off of nodding and shaking his head.

"The others that I live with don't know about you. None of them know I've been sneaking away to be here. You're going to have to stay in my room and out of sight for most of the time. If they catch you…" Sekhmet paused.

/…_you would be put to death immediately and Talpa would fry my ass._/

"…we're both going to be in trouble. Right?" Tala finished.

Sekhmet nodded. "Right."

Tala's mouth quirked up on the side into a small smile. She brought a finger up to her lips as if shushing a loud person in a library.

"_Then I'll be really quiet_," Tala whispered.

The green-haired man let out another chuckle. He leaned close and dropped his voice.

"_And I'll take care of you_," he whispered back.

Tala took the two steps forward and wrapped her small arms around his neck. She placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. He put his arm around her waist while being mindful of her backpack and stood up with her in his arms.

"Do you have your little friend?" he asked.

Tala nodded while reaching into her pocket to pull out her tiny sand boa. He told her to close her eyes and hold on. She closed her eyes, buried her face into his chest, and wound her arms around his neck again. Sekhmet used his armor to wrap the shadows around him and teleported both of them to the dynasty.

/…/

Tala let out a wide yawn as Sekhmet finished giving her the tour. With the other warlords still asleep, he had been able to show her all over the place (with the exception of going inside their rooms). The last place on the tour was the room they now shared. Seeing how the sudden time change was making her tired, Sekhmet brought Tala into the bathroom.

He stepped over to the bathtub where he laid her down on the pool of pillows. She snuggled into them with a content sigh as he pulled the two blankets up to her chin. Tala let out another wide yawn that nearly made her jaw pop. Sekhmet opened the duffle bag and cracked a smile when he saw the contents. Some of the things on top were a variety of stuffed animals such as a little green bear and a long red snake.

He took them out and laid them around her. Through sleepy eyes, she smiled up at him. She grabbed his hand and used it to pull him down to her. She placed a soft, wet kiss on his forehead.

"Love you, big brother."

The once cold warlord felt his heart burn with an intensity he had never noticed before. Had his heart always felt that hot? He leaned down to smooth her hair back and placed his own kiss on her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, little sister."

He lit a large, orange scented candle that would last for a good long time. It would provide just enough light to help Tala in case she had to get up during the night to use the toilet. However, it wouldn't provide so much light that it would disturb her sleep. Sekhmet closed the bathroom door quietly behind him as he whispered a good night to the sleeping child.

END OF CHAPTER SIX

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this new chapter and the two new chapters for "Trouble Follows Little Sister"!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hmm. No reviews? That's okay. I see that some people have read the chapter so I'm okay with that. But PLEASE review my story! Thank you, thank you!**

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tala sat on the workbench quietly eating her sandwich and chips. Due to the abrupt time change with shifting locations, the nine year old had slept until noon. This had been okay with Sekhmet because he had spent the morning training with Dais while Anubis and Cale had been away on an attack on the ronins. When they had finished training, Sekhmet had made himself a large sandwich in two parts and chips.

Dais hadn't even noticed that the two parts were made differently and he had two drinks with him. Sekhmet had already eaten his half of the sandwich and was meditating in a corner of his room. Tala stared curiously at him as she took another small bite of her sandwich. To her, it looked as though he were taking a nap while sitting up.

She finished eating her lunch and climbed carefully down from the workbench. Tala slowly approached Sekhmet. She didn't want to disturb him if he really had fallen asleep sitting up. Slowly bringing herself down, Tala sat cross-legged in front of him where their knees were almost touching. She studied his posture and where his arms were. She tried to copy him as best as she could.

Then Tala closed her eyes with a smile and let her mind drift. She thought about how happy she was to be with her brother; despite having to be confined to only this area. She thought about the soft stuffed animals which Rose had obviously hand-picked out for her. She thought about Herbert who was curled up asleep in her loose jeans pocket. She thought about all the wonderful foster families who had allowed her to stay with them.

"_What are you doing_?"

While tilting her head to the side, Tala peeked an eye open to see Sekhmet's eyes still closed but a small smile on his face. The whisper had been so quiet she almost thought she had imagined him saying something.

"Am I bothering you?" she asked rather than answer the question.

Without opening his eyes, he simply answered, "No."

"Good."

Tala closed her eyes and relaxed her body with a sigh. Hearing the sigh, Sekhmet opened his eyes to take another look at Tala. The little girl looked cute sitting cross-legged with her back straight and eyes closed. He reached his hand up to pat her gently on top of her head. Keeping her eyes closed, Tala's smile grew and she giggled.

They spent the next hour with Sekhmet meditating and Tala just thinking. Tala reached her hands up to rub at her eyes. It was mid-afternoon which was a tad late for a nap, but she was getting very tired. Sekhmet nearly jumped out of his skin when a small weight suddenly plopped down onto his lap. When he opened his eyes, he looked down to see Tala settling down into his lap in a curled up position with her cheek pressed up against him.

Sekhmet wrapped an arm around her and stood up. The little girl had just sat down but she was already fast asleep. He walked into the bathroom and around the corner where the bathtub was. He held her in his arms with one arm and used the other to rearrange the pillows. Then he laid her down, pulled the blanket over her, and leaned to kiss her gently on the forehead.

A sudden familiar ringing in his head made him groan. Talpa didn't sound happy.

Which means Cale and Anubis probably blew the mission, Sekhmet thought.

Taking a final look down at his young charge, Sekhmet shifted through the dynasty to the throne room.

/…/

The next day, Tala sat up in her makeshift bed with her iPad open on her lap. Her teacher had given her all the information for her online schooling and presented her with the iPad as a gift. Tala didn't know what Sekhmet had been so worried about. There was a strong internet connection on her iPad and she was able to access the virtual school without any difficulty[1].

She finished her reading assignment and used her small pen stylus to tap the Submit button after she circled the final answer. The page zipped upwards into the right corner and the Mathematics page opened. Despite the closed bathroom door and thick walls around her, Tala had headphones on her head so no outsiders would even have the chance of hearing the teacher's voice.

The Mathematics portion was a new lesson. It appeared to be on perimeter. Tala watched the screen as a "pen" on the screen followed the drawing of a shape while the teacher talked. Tala turned the screen sideways and tapped the bottom of the screen so the on-screen keyboard would pop up. She tapped out a question and pressed the enter key.

She waited a moment for a written response to pop up on her screen.

**Yes. You will need to measure the length of all the sides and add together to solve for perimeter.**

Tala quietly bobbed her head up and down. She felt like she understood it better now. As she listened to the lesson, she felt Herbert slither up her arm to her shoulder. Since Tala was feeling a tad cold, she was wearing a dark green hoodie with a pouch. Herbert slithered down into the hood where he curled up into a circle and fell asleep.

Tala placed the iPad flat on her lap and reached her hands back to gather her long hair to pull it over one shoulder. This way, her hair wouldn't hang down into her hood and bother her little friend. She was halfway through her math lesson when a letter suddenly appeared in front of her on top of the iPad.

She picked it up and unfolded it. She just barely recognized the handwriting.

_I had to go out. I will be gone for a few hours. You can leave the room to make lunch, but be back in the room before 1:00._

Tala looked at her watch. Sekhmet had reset her watch so it reflected the time where she currently was from within the dynasty. She decided to take a break from homeschooling in favor of an early lunch. She saved her progress, closed up the iPad, placed it on the side of the tub, and climbed out.

It felt weird when she stepped out of Sekhmet's room. Sekhmet had told her he had three "roommates" he lived with, but she never heard them wandering around. She just assumed they were really really quiet. She walked down a long, wide hallway to pass through the living room and around the counter corner to the kitchen.

Tala explored what all was in the kitchen before deciding on making a small turkey sandwich. She cut it in the shape of a small rectangle and threw the crust into the garbage. She walked around eating it as she explored the living room. The living room was a large, spacious room with a few pieces of furniture such as a long couch and armchairs. In the corner there was a large spider's web with tiny spiders trailing up the strings.

She could hear Herbert hissing from over her shoulder as she neared the web so she stepped away. Tala noticed the furniture was facing a large, plain wall with nothing hanging on it. She thought it a little odd, but then again wasn't everything about her life odd? She was just thankful today was a good day.

Finished with eating, Tala walked around for a little more before disappearing back into her and her brother's room. She sat down with her iPad and returned to her math lesson. She couldn't wait to tell Sekhmet later all she had learned with virtual school for the day.

/…/

Sekhmet's eyes darted from one tree to the next. The ronins had fled into the forest to better hide themselves and provide protection to the two mortals.

Those whelps are fools for allowing those weak mortals to be put in such danger, Sekhmet thought.

Then he shook his head to clear it. He didn't care what happened to the woman and child. _He didn't._ The only mortal he allowed himself to show any concern for was safely ensconced back in his room in the dynasty.

[Do you see any of them?]

Sekhmet answered in the negative to Anubis' query. The other three warlords stood high on tree branches, trying in vain to spot one of the mortals.

[Smoke 'em out.]

Throwing thoughts of Tala away for the moment, Sekhmet drew his katanas and struck.

"Snake Fang Strike!"

The lightning bolts of venom ripped across the grass, thus creating large dark green and purple flames. From near a large tree closest to the flames, he saw a flash of red movement and a scream.

"Ryo!"

He saw Wildfire and his tiger rush out of his hiding place to where the two mortals had apparently been hiding. Cale swooped in after him, only to be blocked by his Light rival. Their blades clashed loudly as if actual lightning had struck the earth.

He watched silently as the other two warlords joined the fray. The other ronins jumped from their hiding places to give Wildfire the opening to get the mortals away from the battle. With the others too busy to notice him, Sekhmet followed in quick pursuit after Wildfire. Sensing his approach, Ryo of Wildfire sent the mortals off with the large feline before turning around in a defensive stance.

Rather than taunt the ronin, Sekhmet drove straight into battle with the younger warrior. They met blade for blade, blow for blow. He hated to admit to himself that he held back. His surekill could easily bring down the young mortal, but something was holding him back. He just couldn't decipher what that something was.

Ryo jumped backwards, connecting his two blades together by the hilt.

"FLARE UP NOW!"

A great line of fire came towards him, but he dodged away from it and let loose his own power. The poisonous barbs struck across Ryo's left arm, causing him to drop one of his katanas. It was over in seconds.

He had the ronin pinned to a tree with a blade burning close at his throat. Ryo's other katana had joined its twin on the ground. One of his arms was up in front of Sekhmet's arm which was holding the katana to his throat; it was keeping the blade from actually touching his skin. His other arm lay useless and bleeding by his side, but Sekhmet still had his other armored hand on it with light pressure.

"Ryoooo!"

Sekhmet ignored the small boy's yell for his favored ronin. His complete focus was on the pain-filled gaze of his captive. He knew very well the pain the ronin was going through. The long scar on his arm was thin as a paper cut, but the venom was very potent.

Ryo's hand tightened into a fist, then released. His eyes closed with the tightening of his jaw and a grimace on his face. He had to give the mortal some credit. Most of his captives would be pleading for him to stop the pain or would be crying out at the immense pain by now. It would only take about three more minutes for Wildfire to succumb to the venom.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted. He was being called back? In the middle of a fight?! Surely this was a joke. The voice got louder and he knew ignoring it would seal his own fate. He let out a growl before releasing the ronin and shifting back to the dynasty. The last thing he saw was the two mortals running to Wildfire's side and yelling for Halo's help.

/…/

Sekhmet closed his door firmly and locked it behind him. He sat down on the end of his bed with a loud sigh. None of them could fathom why the evil overlord had recalled them back to the dynasty and he hadn't offered them an answer, either. However, none of them were about to question for fear of an enraged response.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a little body knocked into his stomach. He looked down to see a familiar nest of dark hair. Tala stood in front of him with her arms wound around his stomach. She gave him an extra squeeze before stepping back with a big smile on her face.

"Hi, big brother. Did you have a good day?" Tala asked.

"Hmm. It was fine. I'm tired, little one. It's been a long day. How are you?" he said, choosing to answer her truthfully.

Tala quietly clapped her hands together in front of her.

"I'm great! I learned a lot on virtual school today and the teacher really liked my story about the silly zebra with green stripes."

Sekhmet listened in mild interest as the little girl weaved a tale about her day. Finally, she finished talking and looked up from her place on the floor where she had sat down cross-legged.

"What did you do today?" Tala asked innocently.

/_Oh, nothing much. I sparred with my best friend to which he lost and I dislocated his shoulder. Then I almost killed one of the five mortals that oppose my dark master. And then I came home_./

Despite the honesty of his thoughts, he was not about to admit all of it to the little girl. So the only answer he gave her was "Work." Tala seemed to accept this with a nod of her head. If only she knew.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN

**Okay, people! I'm having to start back to work now (while sick yet again) so I need some reviews to feed the heart and soul. Many thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8

**jrzgrl02:** Haven't been able to read?! AH! Well, at least you were able to finally read it. It's definitely a whole new twist on the other side (the human side) of a warlord. I wonder myself how long he can keep this secret up and about the whole "work" thing. I hope you enjoy the new Chapter below.

**Enjoy the new Chapter, everyone! **

CHAPTER EIGHT

"…and the King can move anywhere on the board. But he can only move one space on his turn. Any questions?"

Tala looked down at the chess board before picking her head up to look at Sekhmet. She shook her head softly.

"No. I think I can remember all of it." Tala smiled. "Can we play now?"

"Of course. White goes first," Sekhmet replied.

Tala looked at the board again before picking up a Knight and moving it two spaces up then one over. Sekhmet responded by moving one of his Pawns out. The little girl moved a Pawn out and the warlord moved one of his Knights. After Tala moved a Bishop across the board, Sekhmet used his Knight to take Tala's Pawn.

Tala frowned as she studied the chess board carefully. It was only her first time playing chess, but she was trying very hard to win. With Sekhmet's Knight in perfect position, Tala boldly moved her Queen out and took his Knight. Sekhmet chuckled as he moved his own Queen out. Now only a Pawn stood between the two Queens.

/_If I take the Pawn with the Queen, that means he could take my Queen. Sekhmet said the Queen is a really strong piece. I'd better leave it where it is._/

Smiling with her inner thoughts, Tala picked up a Pawn to be diagonal from Sekhmet's Pawn. Sekhmet moved his Queen sideways. Tala then swiftly used her Pawn to take his. Frowning, Sekhmet chose to leave his Queen where it was and moved another Pawn out. Tala surprised him by moving the Pawn diagonal to take the Queen out then on her next move moved her Queen across the board.

"That's check, right?" Tala asked.

Sekhmet nodded, but temporarily dashed her hopes when he moved his King sideways and took Tala's Queen. It didn't take long for Tala to take several of his chess pieces. He was impressed with how quickly the little girl caught on. She truly was a gifted little girl. He had never known a child to be so smart.

She would probably give Dais a good run for his money, he thought briefly.

It took only a few moves for Sekhmet to box Tala's King into a corner where three of his pieces could take it.

"Checkmate."

Tala grumbled to herself with a pout before sticking her hand out to shake his. He shook their hands up and down two times.

"Good game."

Sekhmet let go of her hand with a smile as he gathered up the chess pieces and board.

"Nap time, young one," he told her.

Tala groaned, but she knew there was no use arguing. She had only been in her new home with her big brother for a week and a half, but he already had her in a routine. She would wake early for "quiet thinking" (meditation) and breakfast, go online for virtual school (during the week), nap and lunch (or lunch and nap), play a few games with Sekhmet or pet one of his snakes, early dinner, and early bed. Usually, there would be a shower or bath either first thing in the morning or before dinner.

Tala padded into the bathroom and dropped her body over the bathtub. She plopped down onto the pillows. She watched one of Sekhmet's biggest snakes slither across the cold tiles and up the bathtub. The snake waited until Tala had pulled her blanket up. Then it slithered down and curled up into a large _heavy_ ball on top of her covered legs.

Yeah. This is one of my favorite ones, Tala thought.

Sekhmet smiled as he walked in. He waved his hand across the air above his head. This caused the light from outside to dim to almost nothing. Even in the dim lighting, he could see the little girl just fine as he knelt down beside the bathtub. His gaze shifted to her hands.

In one hand the tiny baby snake was curled around her fingers and dozing off to a nap of its own. It still amazed him that he had managed to genetically alter the sand boa to not have a need to actually sleep in sand. In her other hand, the one closest to him, she clutched something in a closed fist.

"What's in your hand, Tala?" he whispered, making sure to keep his voice soft.

"A marble," she answered quietly.

His eyebrows knit together in confusion. A marble? With a yawn, Tala opened her hand and turned it so he could see the marble. Sekhmet couldn't help but release a small chuckle. The small "marble" Tala had found was his armor orb. Unlike the ronin warriors, the warlords no longer needed their armor orbs to summon their subarmor or full armor.

I thought I had that stored away somewhere. I wonder how she could have found it, he thought.

"You take good care of that, okay?" he whispered.

Tala slowly nodded her head before releasing a bigger yawn. Her hand reclosed around the orb and her eyes drifted closed. Sekhmet leaned over her to softly kiss her on the top of the head. He made sure to firmly yet quietly shut the bathroom door. He didn't need one of his fellow warlords to come in and wonder why the door was cracked.

Had he stayed a moment longer he would have heard Tala let out a soft cough and scrunch up her face in slight discomfort. He sat down with his snakes and went through his usual motions. He pulled snake skins from those that had shed them and then he helped a small ball python peel off its skin.

As he started working on taking samples of venom, Sekhmet made sure to keep an eye on the time. He never allowed Tala to sleep for too long. If he did, he knew she'd be groggy the rest of the day. About an hour and half was a good amount of sleep for a nap for Tala. After waking her, he would get lunch for both of them.

/_Dais made sushi last night. Maybe I can get her to try some for lunch today_./

/…/

Sekhmet was half-awake, half-asleep when he felt a presence next to his bed. He kept his eyes closed and tried to sense what it was.

/_If it's Cale sneaking into my room to scare the Hell out of me again, I'm going to __**murder**__ him._/

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a very light touch tapped him on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and rolled over onto his back. With a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, a very pale Tala was shaking. That had him instantly sitting up straight in his bed and making a small candle light itself on the bedside table.

"Tala, what's wrong?" he whispered.

"I had a nightmare," she mumbled while taking a small step closer.

Sekhmet sighed out of relief. He was afraid one of the snakes had scared her or worse; she had left the room and one of the warlords had seen her. Then again if that had happen he would have heard said warlord yell or Tala's scream.

He laid back down and pulled the covers back on the side. A little heavy weight suddenly lodged into his side, causing him to let out a quiet "Oomph!" Tala settled down with her blanket wrapped around her and laid her head down just below his chest.

Sekhmet shifted a little before bringing a hand down onto the back of her head. He could sense that the little girl was still shaken from her nightmare. He lightly stroked her hair until he felt her drift off to sleep. Soon he drifted off to sleep himself.

/…/

_Sekhmet was sitting on a park bench alone. There were other adults around the playground with kids of various ages. Tala ran over to him and jumped into his outstretched arms, the zipper of her jacket lightly hitting his arm._

"_Watch me swing?" she asked cheerfully._

"_Of course. Show me how high you can go," he told her with a chuckle._

_Tala nodded before giving him another hug and dashing off towards the swings. The swings were on the other side of the playground, but they were positioned so that he could see them perfectly from his bench. Tala hopped onto a swing and started pumping._

_As he watched her, Sekhmet slowly closed his eyes for a brief moment. He was shocked when he reopened his eyes. The playground was completely deserted and dark clouds covered the sky with lightning zipping across it. He jumped to his feet, his eyes scanning the area for the small child._

"_Tala?" he called._

_He jogged over to the swings where he had last seen her. Lying on the ground under the swing she had been on was Tala's jacket. A shiver ran up his back when he noticed a dark substance on the back of her jacket. The warlord had been fighting long enough to recognize the sight and scent of blood._

"_Tala!" he yelled._

_He couldn't spot the little girl anywhere and started to panic. Where could she be bleeding from? Was she even still alive? He closed his eyes, clutching the jacket tight in his grasp._

_**Be cautious in your care of her.**_

_His eyes snapped open upon hearing the familiar voice. He took jumped backwards at the sight of the Ancient One. He stood only a few feet from him with the Staff of the Ancients clutched in his hand._

"_Why are you here?" Sekhmet demanded._

_**You have taken a young mortal child into your care. You must keep her safe if you expect to keep her a secret from the other warriors and Talpa.**_

_Sekhmet glared. How did the Ancient One know about Tala? Did this mean Talpa knew too? And why should he (the Ancient One) care?_

"_No one will find out she's here. She's safer here with me than she was with those mortals," he snarled angrily._

_**Maybe. But you must ask yourself what you want from your life. And if you're willing to sacrifice everything to have her in it.**_

"_Big brother!"_

/…/

Sekhmet's eyes abruptly shot open and his arms instinctively wrapped tightly around the little body resting against his side. His heart was pounding heavily as he leaned down awkwardly to press a hard kiss to Tala's head. It was a reassurance that she was there and safe.

/_She's fine. She's asleep. They haven't discovered her. Master Talpa doesn't know._/

He laid back down on the bed and loosened his hold as he attempted to calm his breathing. The dream disturbed him. He had a hard time believing he would be that devastated over the loss of the little mortal.

Just as his breathing slowed back down, he felt Tala shift away from him and turn over. She hacked out a couple of coughs before burying the side of her face into the other pillow. Sekhmet frowned in concern. He rolled over and placed a hand over her forehead.

/_She's a little warm._/

He rolled out of bed on the other side and retrieved the thermometer from the bathroom. He quietly turned it on, pressed it gently yet firmly into Tala's ear, and waited. A few seconds later, the small device let out a small beep that thankfully didn't wake Tala. He lifted it to the side to read her temperature as 99.9.

/_Not a fever, but still a little high._/

Sekhmet returned the thermometer back to the bathroom and came back with a cold washcloth. He rolled Tala onto her back and placed it over on her forehead and part of her eyes. With that done, he fell into a restless stage of sleep.

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT

**Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Don't forget to submit those reviews below! **** Make the Author happy and the Author will make you happy…BY UPDATING!**


	9. Chapter 9

**jrzgrl02:** As always, I love your reviews! Many mysteries, huh? I am staying safe and being cool. I only wished I was in better health. I have the nice beginnings of a stuffy nose and a sore throat. Being sick _sucks_. Hope all is great with you!

**Author's Note: I feel I should warn you that I had entirely TOO MUCH fun writing this particular chapter!**

CHAPTER NINE

When Sekhmet woke up again, it was morning and Tala was nowhere to be seen. The bathroom door was cracked open so he assumed she was in there. He rolled over with a groan. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt any.

"I don't recall you ever sleeping in this late."

He sat up straight in his bed, his heart thumping rapidly. His best friend stood across the room over at his workbench. He felt like his heart was beating loud enough for the other warlord to hear. The green-haired warlord had to figure out what to say without panicking.

/_Don't panic. Don't panic. If he had found Tala, I would already be in the Throne Room attempting to explain myself_./

He calmly climbed out of bed, thankful Dais kept his back to him while he slipped on a pair of jeans. He was grateful he had been wearing a pair of sleeping pants last night when Tala had the nightmare.

"And I don't recall you ever coming into my room _uninvited_," Sekhmet replied, a hint of warning in his tone.

Dais finally turned around to face him. He raised an eyebrow at him while shooting him a calculating stare.

"I've dropped in in the past. It's never bothered you before. What's changed?" Dais asked, accusingly.

Sekhmet had to be careful with what he said and how he said it. Of the other three warlords, Dais knew him best. If he suspected something was up, then the others would notice, too. Sekhmet shook his head.

"I told you. I have a sick snake. I don't need any of you messing with it," Sekhmet answered.

Dais' stare seemed to burn a hole in him. Sekhmet hoped he bought the total crap on sticks story he had just given him. After a few awkward moments of silence in which Sekhmet hoped Tala stayed wherever the Hell she was, Dais spoke.

"Is it a rare species?" Dais asked.

Oh, thank the Nether Spirits! His best friend was unknowingly giving him more leverage to help him dig out of his hole.

"Yes. There are only five of them left in existence," Sekhmet explained, lying with much ease.

Dais nodded in acceptance. He knew how quirky his best friend could get over caring for his reptiles and preserving things he gathered from them. The white-haired warlord held out his hand palm down to him. Sekhmet sighed, but put his open hand underneath his. He was satisfied when his fellow warlord placed what appeared to be a snake egg into his hand.

He carefully examined the egg before speaking.

"A Ryukyu Green snake. Where did you find it?" Sekhmet asked, stepping around him with the egg clutched carefully in his hand.

He quickly found it a safe place to hatch where it wouldn't have any damage done to it. It wasn't the first time one of his fellow warlords had brought him back a specimen. They all knew how to take care of the eggs without damaging the embryos within.

"I was spying on the ronins yesterday and found it on my way back," Dais answered, making his way towards the door.

He stopped when he got to the door; his hand paused on the doorknob.

"By the way, Anubis wanted to see you when you got up," Dais told him.

"I'll be there in a minute."

Sekhmet waited until he heard the telltale sign of a door opening and closing to relax his tense muscles. However, it wasn't until he sensed his brother-in-arms walk down the hallway that he sagged in complete relief. That had been _too_ close.

He immediately left his work bench in search of Tala. He pushed the bathroom door all the way open and closed it behind him.

"Tala?" he called, making sure to keep his voice low.

The only response he got was a sniffle which sounded suspiciously close by. He opened the closet across from the sink and poked his head in. He saw no signs of the little girl in there anywhere.

"Tala?" he called again.

"ACHOO!"

He spun back around and looked down. He listened. Another sneeze, louder this time, confirmed what he had suspected. Sekhmet knelt down in front of the sink and opened the double doors of the cabinet below. Curled up under the sink with a small pillow and blanket was a sniffling Tala.

His arms shot out to pluck the little girl from her hiding place. Sekhmet stood cradling the obviously very sick child in his arms. He could feel the heat from her forehead as she pressed it into his bare chest.

"_By the Nether Spirits, I __**hate**__ Mondays_," he grumbled.

He was surprised Dais hadn't discovered the little girl, considering how loud she had sneezed and the bathroom door had been cracked. He didn't have to take Tala's temperature to know she was running a fever. He summoned pillows and blankets to resume their previous placement in the bathtub.

Sekhmet spoke softly to the child as he coaxed her to take a few drops of a fever reducer he had created himself. She coughed, forcing some liquid to drip down her chin. He wiped it up with a washcloth. He laid her down on the makeshift bed, pulled the covers over her, and placed a cold washcloth on her forehead.

The warlord made sure Tala was still holding his armor orb. He stood up and looked down at the sickly child. He shook his head with a grumble and departed the bathroom after locking it from the inside. If the other warlords came in, they wouldn't be able to access the bathroom, but he would. After all, it was _his_ rooms.

He left his bedroom and headed for Anubis' room. Dais hadn't told him where the warlord leader was, but the open bedroom door gave him a good idea where he was. Sure enough the auburn was standing over a table adorned with a large map. One of the walls had live streaming images of the house belonging to the mortal woman the ronins stayed with. Currently, the bearer of Hardrock was chopping wood.

Sekhmet shook his head. The fool's back would be sore all day with the way he was chopping wood. How in the name of the Nether Spirits did such a stupid mortal come to possess a mystical armor? Throwing the mortal from his thoughts, Sekhmet stepped over to the table to stand near the other.

Anubis glanced up momentarily, a smug smirk flashing across his face, before looking back down at the map.

"Hope you had breakfast. You're about to have a long day," Anubis said.

Sekhmet frowned. That didn't sound good. He had wanted to stay around to make sure Tala's fever didn't rise too high, but it didn't sound like the plan his oh so great leader had. He kept his cursing to himself as Anubis finally turned to give him his full attention.

"You better get together a better disguise than that," he told him.

Sekhmet couldn't suppress the groan. The only time they had to disguise themselves was when they went into the Mortal Realm to spy on the mortal woman or one of the ronins; the mortal brat was of no concern. It was a royal pain in the ass and apparently he had drawn the short straw without even knowing it. He knew better than to argue, though, because the information they gathered on these "spy sessions" led them close to capturing the ronins once before.

"Which one?" Sekhmet growled.

Anubis smirked. He knew the older warlord wouldn't put up a fight. He may hate the spying sessions as much as the next warlord, but they each had their jobs.

"You get a special treat today, Sekhmet. You're going to be following the woman and Wildfire."

Sekhmet thought he may have actually made his eye twitch. Given the growing smirk on Anubis' face he probably had twitched.

"Oh, joy," Sekhmet mumbled.

He listened as Anubis gave him the general orders that came with spying. Act normal. _Don't_ be seen by the intended target(s). Make note of anything that may aid them [the warlords] in capturing the ronin armors.

Sekhmet rolled his eyes as he left the room. He had done this at least three other times. He didn't need the "don't do this" speech. It wasn't like he was incompetent.

He went to his room where he prepared for the trip. He changed his clothes to blue jeans and a dark green hoodie. He wore a bucket hat to hide his hair and grabbed up a pair of dark sunglasses. Before leaving, Sekhmet grabbed up a thermometer and checked Tala's temperature.

100.2. That wasn't too high. He replaced the now warm washcloth with a fresh, cold one. Tala cracked her eyes open with a loud sniffle as he was placing the new washcloth down. There was a questioning look in her eyes.

"I'm going to be gone most of the day. I'll bring you some lunch later. Get some rest," he murmured.

Tala didn't put up any argument. Her head was pounding, her nose felt full and plugged up, and today was a school holiday. Herbert was curled up on the pillow beside her cheek. His tail lightly stroked her cheek in an almost ticklish manner.

"_Mm-okay. Have a good day_," Tala whispered.

"_I will_," Sekhmet whispered back.

/…/

Mia parked the car and cut the ignition. She climbed out of the car with a reminder to Ryo to lock his door. He did so with a laughing smile. Mia walked around the car to stand beside Ryo.

"Thanks again for coming to town with me, Ryo," she said, smiling.

"It's my pleasure, Mia. I was hoping to get out of the house today," Ryo confessed.

"Well, that's good then because I have a lot of things to get done here in town. We'll pick up groceries last. I don't want them sitting in the car all day," Mia replied.

Ryo nodded in agreement. He felt bad leaving White Blaze behind, but a large tiger and a big city just didn't mix well. Ryo supposed he didn't have to feel too bad. After all, when they had left, White Blaze had been sleeping on top of Rowen on the couch.

His whole body is going to be numb later, Ryo thought with a chuckle.

Mia stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets when the breeze blew. It was a chilly October day for sure. Because of the power of Wildfire, Ryo was only wearing a light jacket. Truth be told, he didn't even need the jacket but he wanted to appear normal in the crowd with Mia.

As they entered the large open market, they didn't even take notice to the man standing and reading a newspaper as they passed him. Sekhmet lowered the newspaper to look over the top of it. The two stopped nearby so Mia could take a look at a collection of used books.

"Has the rash cleared up yet?" Mia asked, drawing Ryo into conversation while she flipped through a book.

Ryo shrugged in response.

"I thought that gooey stuff Cye…_concocted_ would work, but now I'm not so sure," Ryo answered.

Sekhmet held back a snicker. So Wildfire had a rash. He could only imagine where it could be and how the ronin could have gotten said rash.

"Well, it's difficult to get rid of poison ivy. Sage really should have been watching where he was walking," Mia pointed out.

Sekhmet almost gave himself away right there. The ronin of Light and _Wisdom_ had come in contact with poison ivy and now had a rash.

Oh, Cale's going to enjoy hearing about this, Sekhmet chuckled to himself.

He folded up his newspaper and closed it when he noticed the two moving on. He made sure to follow at a safe distance where he could keep them in his sights and not be suspected of following them.

/…/

Tala rolled over onto her side with a small cough. She whimpered as she reached up and pulled the washcloth off her forehead. She tossed it to an unseen corner of the bathroom. She grumbled in her sleep, using the same hand to rub at her head.

Her head was hot and sweaty yet the little girl hugged the blankets closer around her body with a shiver. Herbert, perturbed by Tala's hair, slithered down her arm and onto her stomach where he drifted off to sleep again.

A bright light filled the bathroom yet Tala didn't even so much as move. After the light faded, a figure walked over where the small child lay sleeping. A hand came down to lightly push strands of hair out of her face.

"You have a long journey ahead of you, young one. It will not be easy and your bond with the warrior will be tested," a voice murmured.

Tala's hand that was clutching the armor orb loosened so that he could see it. The kanji symbol for Piety was glowing softly on the orb as if warring off the intruder. He chuckled as he patted the child ever so gently on the head.

"He is still not sure about himself. It has been so long since someone has cared for him. You may just be the one to save him." Sad smile. "I only hope he realizes it in time."

The Ancient One stood up straight from his knelt position and brought the Staff of the Ancients down where the winged tips just barely touched Tala's forehead. The rings separated and rose as the staff glowed lightly. Neither child nor snake stirred. After glowing for a few quiet seconds, the glowing stopped and the rings came to a rest.

Now, the color seemed to have returned to the child's face and she seemed to be breathing better.

"That should help you for now, child."

The Ancient One knelt down to murmur a soft prayer over her. When he was done, he stood and disappeared. It was as if he was never there.

/…/

By the Nether Spirits, this was torture! So far, the two mortals had been to the market, a flower shop, a pharmacy, a small restaurant, and a dress shop. He had been curious at the pharmacy. Rather than spy on the two mortals, he had used a technique Cale had taught him to hide within the shadows of the room to observe the people working back in the pharmacy.

However, the dress shop had been the most torturous experience of all. It had been half an hour alone in which the mortal woman had tried on only two dresses. Deciding it was a good time to get away for lunch, Sekhmet had disappeared back to the dynasty. Thankfully, the others were absent so he had been able to sneak his food back to his room.

He had been very grateful to find Tala's temperature had dropped to 99.7. He had woken her up to eat a little bit of food before allowing her to go back to sleep. Sekhmet had sat on the bathroom floor leaning his back against the tub as he ate his lunch. One of the walls held the image of his intended targets for the day. He kept it on them to check for when they were finished with the…ugh, dresses.

I feel pity for Wildfire for having to endure _that_, Sekhmet thought.

The woman was currently trying on a new dress while Wildfire was sitting outside the changing rooms. Ryo of Wildfire was sitting in a chair with his head tilted down and his hand covering his eyes. Sekhmet shook his head with a small chuckle.

Nope. Not an ounce of envy, he thought.

"Big brother?"

Sekhmet took a bite of his sandwich and chewed on it as he turned partway around. A sleepy eyed Tala stared back at her brother.

"What is it, Tala?" Sekhmet asked.

"I need to go potty," Tala mumbled.

"Oh."

Sekhmet climbed to his feet and left the bathroom to give Tala some privacy. He waited until he heard the telltale flush of the toilet and the running of water at the sink. When he stepped back in the bathroom, Tala was drying off her hands on a towel. With her back to him, Tala was taken by surprise when she was suddenly lifted into the air.

Tala threw her arms up around Sekhmet's neck to prevent from falling.

"I don't wanna sleep no more," Tala mumbled miserably.

Sekhmet shook his head. He was going to stay firm on this. 99.7 wasn't a fever, but it was neither a normal temperature nor that far from a fever.

"You don't have to go to sleep, but I want you to rest," Sekhmet told her.

He walked over to the bathtub where he set her down on the blankets after snatching up the blanket. Tala sat up leaning on some of the smaller pillows as the warlord laid the blanket down over her lap.

"That's the same thing," Tala argued.

Not wanting to argue, Sekhmet shot her a look that promptly shut her up. She quietly asked for her coloring book and crayons. Without saying a word, Sekhmet retrieved the items from the closet and brought them back to her. He froze when she gave him the smallest of smiles in response.

"I like that one."

Sekhmet stared down at her confused. Huh? What? One of the crayons? She seemed to smile at his confusion and pointed behind him.

"The lady picked blue. I like it," she explained.

Sekhmet turned around to face the wall playing the live images of Wildfire and the woman. Sure enough, the woman was purchasing a light blue dress. Sekhmet waved the image away and murmured a goodbye to Tala before disappearing from the bathroom.

END OF CHAPTER NINE

**Please read and review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**jrzgrl02:** I wonder if my readers are getting a good mental image of this child. I certainly hope so. Dais is Sekhmet's best friend so you never know what he knows. As for, Anubis it's a wonder if he knows anything as well. Mia? Hmm. Maybe. Did found out I have an issue with acid reflux; took me out for an entire week and two days of work. I get to go back to work on 9/11 which just sounds so…odd?

**Enjoy the new chapter, everyone, and, as always, KEEP UP THE REVIEWS!**

CHAPTER TEN

The rest of the afternoon was spent following the woman and Wildfire to a couple more places. Their last stop was the grocery store, but the next to last stop had been an eerily familiar place. Sekhmet had been shocked to the core when the two mortals had led him to a park. It looked like the very same park his nightmare had taken place in.

The familiarity had sent unpleasant chills down his back. The two mortals had met up with the little mortal boy (Yuki, wasn't it?) while he was visiting the park with his parents. Every minute he had spent sitting on the park bench with his newspaper up had been an internal torture. His stomach had clenched painfully, his throat had closed up, and a pressure had built up behind his eyes and forehead.

/_Just like the last time Cale made dinner_./

Finally, they had said their farewells and had gone grocery shopping. After they left, Sekhmet had tossed the newspaper and bought a few things from the store. He had returned late in the evening. The others had already retired for the night so he knew he would have to report to Anubis come morning.

Sekhmet put the new snacks away into cupboards and made sure to change the hiding place for his peanut butter cookies. Nether Spirits knew the other three warlords could always find them if he didn't hide them in a different place every few weeks. When he returned to his room, he found Tala fast asleep in her "bed." He found two of his biggest pythons laid out on either side of her. He found that they were keeping her quite warm.

Tired from a hellishly long day, Sekhmet didn't even bother changing out of his shirt and jeans as he slipped into his bed. He lay down on his back, rolled to his side with one arm tucked under his head, and fell fast asleep.

That night, he had an out of body experience. He dreamt of a dark space with nothing seemingly around him. His armor stood a few feet from him. Floating around and behind the armor was a small ball of green light. It bobbed to and fro, swirling around the armor like a playful will o' wisp. He reached his hand out to summon the armor, but he was unable to.

He leaned back as the ball of light shot forward at him. It stopped a few inches in front of his face where it just floated. Slowly, he brought his hand up to it. Right before it could touch his hand, a heavy weight on his chest abruptly woke him up. He opened his eyes and looked down at his arm that was wrapped around whatever had slumped into his chest.

He couldn't see her in the dark but he knew the figure slumped into his arms was Tala. He told himself she must have had another nightmare. He frowned as he lifted a hand to her cheek. Why was it wet?

"Tala?" he murmured.

He thought maybe the child had been crying. He willed the candles in his room to light. He closed his eyes to give them a moment to be able to bear the light. As he opened them and looked down, he wished he hadn't.

The little girl lay on her back beside him covered in blood. Her arms were crossed over her stomach with her eyes closed as though she were sleeping. The blood covered her from her shirt up to her face where it stained her cheeks. Sekhmet quickly sat up, placing both hands upon the child's face. He tried to discern where she was bleeding from.

"Tala?" he murmured, shaking her.

She didn't wake. He moved one of his hands from her shoulder to cheek. Her cheek was frigid. No. _No_. She couldn't be!

"Tala!"

"Big brother?"

His eyes shot up and he sat straight up in his bed. The room was no longer dark, the candles were out, it was light outside, and Tala stood in the bathroom doorway. He was out of his bed and by her side in a matter of milliseconds. Despite the obvious lack of blood all over, Sekhmet ran his hands over her face and down her arms, looking for any injuries.

Tala grabbed his hands by the wrists and slowly brought them up to either side of her face. Her eyes were full of concern and fright.

"Sekhmet, are you okay? I heard my name," she murmured.

He closed his eyes and took a moment to collect himself. His heart was still racing. He could still feel the blood staining his hands and the image of Tala's still body made his stomach clench painfully.

Tala stared up at her brother in confusion. She had woken up early and before the sun. She had wandered out into her brother's room only to find him fast asleep. Tala had been hungry so she had wandered out of the room and let him sleep. The little girl had walked down the hall and around the corner to the kitchen.

It had been easy to fix herself some toast with butter. She had sat at the table and eaten it quietly. As she had been leaving, she had heard a sound from the living room area. Tala had been surprised when she had walked around the couch. She had found a man with short dark hair and a large scar over one of his eyes sleeping on the couch.

She found a large blanket lying on the floor in a mess. Tala had picked it up and draped it over the man. She had placed the softest of kisses on his forehead, causing the man's face to soften a little, and then returned to her brother's room. After returning, she had gone back into the bathroom and settled down with her iPad. She had been reading a story for school when she thought she had heard her brother call her name. The little girl had stood up and been at the bathroom door when she heard him say her name again, only louder.

Now here she stood looking up at her brother's face. His eyes were closed and his face was blank. She moved her hands from his wrists to his arms and pulled lightly down. With his eyes still closed, Sekhmet knelt down in front of Tala. She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the middle of his forehead.

Sekhmet opened his eyes and gave her a small smile. He patted her gently on the cheek, placed a firm kiss on the top of her head, and stood back up.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Tala shook her head. "No."

"Okay. I'm going to eat some breakfast and then I'm going to be gone for a while. Are you sure you don't want anything?" Sekhmet asked.

Tala nodded her head. Sekhmet pulled her to his side and patted her on the arm. From underneath his arm, Tala looked up at him with a lopsided smile.

"Have a good day," she told him.

He tapped her on the nose with a finger, causing her to let out a small giggle.

"I will. You too, Tala."

Sekhmet shooed her back into the bathroom so he could change out of yesterday's clothes. Tala thought the clothes had looked familiar to her. She wandered back into the bathroom where she decided to sit on the floor with her back against the wall and iPad in hand. When he was done changing clothes, Sekhmet came in the bathroom to wash his face.

/_Holy Nether Spirits, I look like Hell._/

When he was done, he gave Tala a pat on the head on his way out.

"Big brother?"

He backtracked and stuck his head through the doorway. He raised his eyebrow, a clear sign for her to continue.

"When I'm done with my work, can I take out some of your snakes?" she asked.

Sekhmet thought about that for a moment before answering.

"Take them out one at a time, except the ball pythons. _None_ of the venomous or poisonous ones. Do you remember which ones those are?"

Tala nodded. On her first day here, Sekhmet had been very clear with pointing out what snakes were okay to handle and which ones weren't. The venomous and poisonous snakes were only okay to pet when Sekhmet was handling them. She watched as he disappeared again and closed the door behind him.

She returned to her virtual school work. She lost herself in the work until most of the morning had evaporated. When she stood up, Tala felt pain lacing up her spine. She rubbed her back with a grimace. Maybe she should have stayed on the bed of pillows and blankets. She took a moment to look at the date on the iPad. It read as November 21.

I wonder who we're going to have Thanksgiving dinner with, Tala pondered.

She hoped it would be with Cecilia and Marla. She missed them. She was really happy being with her big brother, but she still missed them. Placing the iPad down in a safe place, Tala quietly slipped out of the bathroom. She pulled a small stool up to Sekhmet's work bench and used it to climb up on the table on her knees.

Tala looked over the different terrariums before deciding to take out the two ball pythons. She pulled the cover off and reached in to lightly stroke each snake along their middle. Sekhmet had told her this was to let them know she was there and was going to pick them up. She reached both hands in to pick up the first ball python.

Tala let the smaller of the two ball pythons wound around her right arm. She waited until it stopped wrapping around her arm before reaching in for the other. After she had managed to get both snakes out, Tala turned around and plopped down on the table with her legs dangling over the side. The bigger ball python wrapped around her thin waist.

She rubbed each snake with a finger or two and just sat there, swinging her legs back and forth. She was a joyful child who was quite content to spend time with her brother's pet snakes.

/…/

As predicted, Cale had nearly laughed himself hoarse when Sekhmet had told him about his Light rival's case of poison ivy. The other two warlords hadn't been any better. Sadly, this had meant Sekhmet had had to wait until the three of them had calmed themselves down to finish his report. After they had _finally_ calmed down, he had finished telling them everything.

Well, next to everything. He hadn't mentioned the nausea and pain at the park or the hiding of his cookies. The last thing he needed was them working together and snooping out his peanut butter cookies. After that, they had gone their separate ways. Dais and Anubis had gone off to plan for whatever (probably an attack on the ronins) while Cale was meditating.

Sekhmet was currently in the library they had. It was a large room with many books from a variety of long lost cultures. Their books were written in languages ranging from lost and dead to current. Each of the warlords knew several languages which allowed them to read the books with little difficulty.

He ran his finger along the spines of a row of books before stopping on a small black book. The title was written in Bengali. The title said _Kimbadantī_ which Sekhmet knew meant "legends." He knew the language well and knew he had never seen this particular book in the library before.

He snatched up to the book and found himself a comfortable spot in one of the tower windows. Sekhmet leaned his back against the wall and hung one leg down on the inside. He cracked open the book and flipped through it. Surprisingly, the book was not about Bengal legends; it was Nether Realm legends written in Bengali.

It sparked a mild interest as he skimmed over a few of the legends. He stopped when he got to a chapter that was entitled Barma praphullatā.

"Armor spirits?" he murmured.

He couldn't recall ever hearing of such things. He decided it was worth his time to look into.

**[1] Armor Spirits date back to the birth of the Nether Realm. There are many legends that circle around the power of armors worn by Nether Realm warriors. The legend of armor spirits is among them. No one is quite sure of the truth of this particular legend as warriors rarely discuss the subject.**

**Armor spirits are said to come in many forms. One belief is that they appear before warriors in the form of a small ball of light, similar to a will o' wisp. It is said that this playful little ball of light is only visible to the warrior. Another, more popular, belief is that the spirits are in fact human. This belief stems from the Legend of Hariel and his armor spirit.**

**As the story goes, the powerful warrior was training one day when he came across a beautiful woman. She was badly injured from a bad fall from a spooked horse. Having pity for the woman, he took her back to his home where he cared for her and helped her to heal. Over the time that it took for her to heal, Hariel felt a weird connection to her; a connection that reminded him of his Inferno armor.**

**When the woman was able to travel, she thanked Hariel and returned to her home. In her absence, Hariel's heart ached and his armor felt weaker. It was some time later that he went in search of this woman. After he found her, Hariel's armor strength became renewed with an even greater power than before.**

Sekhmet raised an eyebrow. He knew the story of Hariel. It was, of course, all folklore. A warrior with that much power who had been both Warlord and Ronin? _Impossible_. He read on about the woman and Hariel who went on to become close and eventually married.

Their connection served to make the Inferno armor stronger than ever before. He was surprised to see that there were no written parts as to what happened to the woman or when and why Hariel had died. This served as further evidence, in his mind, that Hariel had never really existed. He flipped the page and continued reading.

**Many people think of the armor spirits as a weakness. On the contrary, they are said to be a warrior's greatest power. With their armor spirit close by, an armored warrior could unleash an insurmountable amount of power unseen by any other.**

Sekhmet frowned. He flipped back a couple of pages and read the brief description again about what people believed the "armor spirits" looked like. The thought of a playful will o' wisp reminded him of his dream.

/_Could that mean…I have one? An armor spirit?_/

It was quite an intriguing thought. He wondered if any of his brothers-in-arms had had dreams similar to his. He snapped the book shut and sat there thinking about this bit of information. Usually, he wasn't one for folklore yet he couldn't shake the nagging feeling.

Without warning, he heard a loud, sharp voice in his head. He cringed. Talpa didn't sound happy. That meant nothing good for any of them. He left the book on the window sill before disappearing to the throne room to answer the summons.

After he disappeared, the book glowed a gold color like a certain staff. The glow faded away after only a moment.

/…/

The four appeared all at once in the throne room and bowed their heads in respect. Talpa was cackling which could either be good news or bad news. For them, anyway.

"The Ronin Warriors are fools."

Well, that was nothing new. Sekhmet, as well as the others, had to choke back snorts of derision.

"But my loyal warlords are even bigger fools."

Sekhmet knew he wasn't the only one staring stunned at the dark overlord. Their ever brave (or stupid) leader tried to deny they (oh, you're actually including us three, too, for once) were fools.

A loud roar of "SILENCE!" cut that statement in half.

The angered overlord proceeded to rip them a new one. He reminded them of their countless numbers of failures which really stung. Thankfully, the four of them knew their Master's temper well enough to not say a word to the contrary. It was rare he would put them on the spot like this, but it still stung for a warrior to be reminded of his failures.

Finally, after he was done, Talpa dismissed them with the exception of Sekhmet. From beside him, Dais sent him an undecipherable gaze before disappearing. Sekhmet stood waiting and dreading. It was never a good sign to be singled out. This was probably going to hurt.

/…/

"Something's off with him."

Cale and Anubis glanced up from their lunches. Dais was sitting on a kitchen counter across from them.

"Doesn't he have some sick reptiles?" Cale asked, before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Dais shrugged.

"Supposedly. I have yet to see them and Sekhmet hasn't talked about them," Dais replied.

That did sound odd. In the past, whenever Sekhmet had had a sick snake, he had consulted Dais. On more than one occasion, he had borrowed some tarantula venom to help with his snakes.

Anubis leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face. They all had begun to notice subtle differences in their comrade. He was quieter, spent a lot more time in his room, and had begun helping out more. He had made dinner more than the rest of them as of late.

"When did you notice his…'off' behavior?" Anubis asked.

Dais tilted his head back in thought. He did some calculations in his head before speaking.

"A few months ago, I believe. It started off with him disappearing after that fight with Wildfire," Dais answered.

Hmm. He had disappeared a few times, probably more than they were aware of, and had offered no explanation as to where he had been. Then his disappearances had abruptly stopped, leading to him to spending more time within the four walls of the dynasty.

"Perhaps he's the one that's sick," Cale offered with a dry chuckle.

Anubis shot him an annoyed look and Dais' response was an apple to the head to which he ducked out of instinct.

"Why should we be worried? He's probably just in one of his moods," Cale added.

Dais shook his head.

"This time is different. I sense something off in the balance for our brother-in-arms," Dais argued.

Cale smirked. "Perhaps we should investigate."

/…/

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rose looked up from where she was standing and washing the dishes. She looked over at her husband who was working on a crossword puzzle at the kitchen table.

"Honey, were you expecting company?" she asked.

"No, dear," he murmured without lifting his head.

Rose made an hmm sound as she placed down the plate she had been working on. She dried her hands on the half-apron she was wearing as she walked to the front door. Because it was a nice cool evening, they had left the front door open but the screen door was still latched shut. Her face lit up when she saw who it was.

She quickly jogged the last few steps to unlock the screen and open it outward as the visitor stepped back.

"Hello! It's wonderful to see you. I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever see you or Tala again," Rose said.

Sekhmet gave her a small, barely there smile as she invited him in.

"Thank you. I apologize for coming by so late," he apologized with a small grimace.

She assumed the grimace was for the somewhat late hour; the real reason for it was him apologizing to a mortal, Tala being the only exception.

"It's perfectly okay. Is Tala with you?" Rose asked, glancing around the man.

Sekhmet shook his head. "No. She's…at home resting."

Rose nodded. She shouldn't be surprised. It was late after all. She questioned him leaving her alone, though.

"I don't plan to be gone long. Plus I have three…brothers that are…'home' right now," Sekhmet said, hoping she would buy that complete lie.

The smile she gave him told him she did.

"Well, what brings you by this late at night?" Rose asked.

"I was…hoping to ask…a _favor_."

Dear gods that had been hard to say! He couldn't recall _ever_ asking anyone for a favor, let alone a mortal. This was a first for him. Rose smiled softly.

"Does this favor have to do with Tala?"

Sekhmet slowly nodded his head.

"Then we'd love to help out. What's the favor?"

Sekhmet explained that he needed to work "overtime" for a few days and would not be able to spend as much time with Tala. He seemed to share concern about Tala possibly becoming sick.

"We would be glad to have her visit. How about we make it a week? You can come join us for Thanksgiving dinner and then take Tala home."

Sekhmet found himself agreeing, despite knowing what the Hell a Thanksgiving was. He figured it must be some sort of mortal holiday. He would ask Tala about it when he got back. Rose's husband came up to them with a soft smile on his face.

"Who is this, dear?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This is the man I've been telling you about. The one who took in Tala," Rose said.

Edgar reached out to shake hands with him. Rose told her husband of the favor he had asked.

"We would love to have her stay with us. We have a small guest room upstairs that our granddaughter uses when she visits. It'll be ready for Tala when she gets here. When should we expect you to bring her by?"

Sekhmet did the calculations in his head, due to the time difference between them. He listed off a time which the couple both agreed that it wasn't too early. Sekhmet thanked them before moving to leave. However, Rose's voice stopped him in the doorway.

"Has Tala been to see a doctor?" Rose asked.

Sekhmet shook his head.

"Do you mind if I take her to her doctor here? Dr. Connor? I could schedule a check-up for her and get her a flu shot," Rose offered.

This caused Sekhmet to pause. He had plenty of experience with healing and could provide any medical help to Tala that she needed, but it was best that a mortal doctor give her a check-up. He nodded his head quietly and almost grimaced at the beaming smile on Rose's face.

/…/

Sekhmet let out a big, wide yawn as he walked down the hallway to his room. He wanted nothing more than to fall into his bed and sleep for the unforeseeable future. However, he knew he had to be up in the middle of the night to take Tala to Rose and Edgar's house. Plus, he would spend a little time with the little one before going to sleep.

He stepped into his room with quiet steps, planning to ask Tala what she wanted to eat for dinner. He froze in the doorway. The bathroom door was cracked open and he could hear the familiar voices of his brothers-in-arms emanating from beyond the door.

Oh. My. God.

"_Tala._"

END OF CHAPTER TEN

[1] This is what the legend reads in Bengali as Sekhmet is translating it in his head.

Emily: You evil, evil author!

Tigergirl: Where'd you come from? This isn't your story!

Emily: *rolls eyes* Hence the reason why I'm over here. I heard good things and decided to pop over.

Tigergirl: Grr…

Emily: All right! All right! I'm going. *drops voice to a whisper* _Please, __**please**_ _read and review. TG __lives__ on reviews! _*zips out of the room*

Tigergirl: One of these days…*sigh* Anywho, maybe more reviews can help this old tiger (and, by old, I mean 24) have better health.


	11. Chapter 11

**jrzgrl02: **I'm glad you're enjoying this story, too. You're going to see lot of Sekhmet's softer side as it comes out. Read below to see what happens with the other warlords and Tala. Life is going well for me now. My health has gotten better and I've got a date tomorrow night. Oh, happy days!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tala let out a wide yawn that almost toppled her over backwards. The afternoon was starting to bleed into the evening. She had taken a shower earlier and was now sitting on the bathroom floor with her back leaning against the wall around the corner. The little girl was building a house of cards when she heard a muffled voice in the next room.

"Big brother," Tala murmured happily.

She picked up all the cards and placed them back in their box. She left the box on the ground as she stood up and walked to the corner. She smiled as she heard her big brother shuffling around in his room.

However, her smile faded as she saw the doorknob rattling. She forgot she had locked the door after her shower. She took a step around the corner to cross the room to unlock the door but a voice made her stop in her tracks.

"_Is it locked_?"

"_Yes_."

"_Can you pick it?_"

"_Of course._"

Tala let out a tiny gasp. That voice was more than one and none of them sounded like her big brother. She reached into her pocket to clutch the marble she had found in her hand. She watched as the door knob was jiggled until the lock moved to the unlock position. It seemed as if time itself slowed down as the doorknob turned and the door opened.

"What the –."

/…/

THWACK! THUD! THUD! The three warlords now lay crumbled on the ground against the wall opposite of Sekhmet's now sealed bedroom door. Dais groaned, putting his hand up to his head. He had had the misfortune of colliding heads with Anubis.

"_By the Nether Spirits_, he's got a temper," Dais groaned, feeling the large bump forming on his head.

Anubis who sat on the ground beside him let out an equal groan. He felt the side of _his_ head that had connected with Dais'.

"You ever seen him that…*groan* mad?" Anubis asked.

Dais shook his head.

"_Get. Off. Me._"

The two warlords immediately slid off their third who had been thrown first and into the wall. Cale sat up with a cut lip and a cut on the side of his head openly bleeding. Dais reached over to take a look at his head, causing the scarred warlord to hiss.

"_I'm going to kill him_."

Anubis chuckled while shaking his head. Cale shot him a nasty look and would have lunged for him if it wasn't for the stinging pain lacing through his head. That and Dais had a tight hold on him as he checked his head wound over.

It was true the four of them could be territorial about their spaces, but never had one of them reacted that violently. Sekhmet had moved as quickly as one of his vipers; they had never even sensed his presence in the room until after they were out in the hall and on the floor.

"Give him time. I'll talk to him," Dais murmured.

Meanwhile, within his room, Sekhmet had just finished sealing his rooms using his armor. Now not even the blue spirit would be able to access them. After searching every possible hiding place in the bathroom, Sekhmet finally managed to find Tala underneath his bed. He gently pulled her out from underneath the bed and placed her down to sit on the bed. He knelt down in front of her.

"Are you hurt?" Sekhmet asked.

Tala shook her head quietly with her closed fists clutched under her lowered chin.

"What happened?" he demanded, unable to keep his tone from becoming harsh.

"I-I was in the bathroom playing with the cards. I heard s-someone in the room. I thought it was you."

She explained about the door and the voices. Then the door had opened. Sekhmet knew his worse fears were coming to life, but he had to be sure before he took drastic measures.

"Did they see you?"

He was shocked to the core when Tala shook her head in the negative. He listened as she finished her tale.

"I closed my eyes when the door closed. I heard something. I opened my eyes and I was under the bed."

Sekhmet couldn't believe his ears. Not only had his fellow warlords been within a ten foot radius of Tala, but Tala had somehow remained undetected. He took a moment to collect his rampaging thoughts before speaking.

"Were you doing anything when you closed your eyes?"

Tala turned one of her hands and opened it partially to show his armor orb. Sekhmet closed his eyes and turned his head in deep thought.

/_Is it…possible? Could holding my armor orb give her the ability to shift like the four of us can do?_/

He had to test this theory. Sekhmet stood up while directing Tala to stand as well. He instructed her to keep holding the "marble" in her hand. She stood next to his bedside table that had a lit candle sitting on it.

"Close your eyes."

Tala closed her eyes and listened for her brother's voice.

"Think of a place here in the rooms and think of yourself being in that spot."

He watched as the candle behind her dimmed then heightened back up to its flame. At the same time, Tala disappeared from view. Sekhmet turned around to find her standing over by the table where he kept his snakes. As he walked calmly over to Tala, the words of his Master echoed in his mind.

"_You have been distracted as of late, my loyal warrior._" No. I am only planning on how to capture the ronin armors and give glory to you.

"_You have become distant from your fellow warlords. Perhaps I __**should**__ question your loyalty._" **Never**. My loyalty is to the dynasty and my dark master.

Even as he thought over his words, he pondered on why Talpa had said such things. He had never been concerned about the loyalty of his warlords before. Could he know about Tala? Was he waiting for the others to discover her to expose him?

These thoughts were what had prompted his last-minute visit to Rose's house. He hoped that with Tala gone for a week he could prove to everyone, including Talpa, nothing had changed. The presence of the little one in his life did not change anything.

"Big brother! Look what I did!"

Tala's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked down to see Tala's arms wrapped around him and her gaze turned up to him.

"I saw," he murmured before reaching down to pick her up.

Sekhmet lifted her to hold her on his side. Her legs hung down by either side of him while her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. He turned his head to give her a small smile.

"You're going to be staying with your old neighbor for a few days," Sekhmet told her.

Tala's face lit up as she bounced excitedly on his side.

"Mrs. Rose?" Tala asked.

Sekhmet nodded. The little girl pushed her face into the upper part of his arm as she hugged him.

"How long are we staying?" Tala asked.

Sekhmet shook his head.

"Just you, little one. And you're going to stay until Thanksgiving. I'll come join you for Thanksgiving and then bring you back," he told her.

The little girl frowned. She wasn't happy her brother wouldn't be coming with her, but she was happy he would join her for Thanksgiving.

"When do I go?" she asked.

"In the morning. We'll pack a bag for you now," Sekhmet said.

Tala smiled.

"Okay."

He put the squirmy little girl down and watched her as she darted into the open doorway of the bathroom. He sighed before following her. He needed to find out what this Thanksgiving was.

/…/

"What holidays do you celebrate?" Tala asked.

It was early morning in the Mortal Realm in North Carolina. The two had managed to sneak some dinner and sleep a few hours before shifting to the Mortal Realm. Sekhmet hadn't allowed the child to shift without him; he didn't know how much of a strain that would be on her small body. Not to mention what it could possibly do to aggravate her "condition."

Sekhmet glanced down at the little girl who was holding his hand and swinging their arms back and forth. Truth be told, him and the other warlords really didn't celebrate a lot of holidays. They recognized each other on their birthdays, but that was about it. He had to rack his brain for the holidays he had once celebrated.

"I don't celebrate a lot. I suppose I celebrate the New Year and Christmas," he answered.

Tala's face lit up. "Really? Can we stay up until Midnight?"

Sekhmet told her they would see when the time came.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Tala asked.

Sekhmet shook his head. The excitability over visiting Rose was causing the little girl to jump her conversation everywhere.

"You don't need to get me anything, Tala," Sekhmet told her.

Tala pouted, causing him to release a small chuckle. They soon came up to the house where Rose was waiting on the front porch for them. Sekhmet stopped at the end of the drive, giving Rose a small wave. He put down the bag he had been carrying for Tala and knelt down on one knee while facing Tala.

"Be good," he warned in a light tone.

Tala smiled. She leaned forward to give him a very gentle kiss on the nose.

"I'll miss you, big brother," she whispered.

Sekhmet crooked a finger at her, motioning for her to lean forward. He turned his head so he could whisper in her ear.

"_I'll miss you, too_."

Tala giggled before throwing her arms around Sekhmet to give him a tight squeeze. When Sekhmet stood up, Rose was walking down the drive to them. She retrieved the bag from him with a smile.

"Don't worry. We'll take good care of Tala," Rose tried to reassure him.

He knew the mortal meant well and he had no reason to believe she _wouldn't_ take good care of Tala. He pressed a soft yet firm hand to the top of Tala's head and reminded her he would be back in a week.

Tala watched her brother walk away down the familiar pathway to their spot before he disappeared around a tree. She reached her hand into her pocket to make sure she still had the marble. Her brother had made her promise to keep it on her at all times. Her other pocket held Herbert which she had promised not to scare Mr. and Mrs. Lane with.

Tala turned around to throw her arms around Rose. The two shared a tight but small hug. Rose took the little girl's hand and they started their walk up to the house.

"We're so happy to have you with us, Tala. I have a lot of things planned for us to do and I set up an appointment for you to see your doctor on Monday," Rose told her.

"I get to see Dr. Connor?" Tala asked, a bright smile beaming on her face.

Dr. Maxwell Connor was a wonderful doctor who specialized in rare children's diseases such as the one Tala had. Tala always enjoyed visiting him. Rose smiled down at the happy child. She was happy to see the medical bracelet peeking out from under the sleeve of the pullover she was wearing.

"Can I go see Cecilia and Marla after school is over?" Tala asked as they stepped up onto

Rose smiled sadly down at her.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but they moved away."

Rose didn't have the heart to tell her that the family had moved away shortly after Sekhmet took her in. Tala glanced down the road at what she now knew was an empty house. Rose stepped into her view as she guided the little girl inside. The elderly lady dropped the bag by the stairs while Tala dropped her backpack next to it.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" Rose asked.

Tala shook her head. Rose led her into the kitchen where she immediately started fixing up a small breakfast feast for the young child. Tala sat down at the table where a familiar coloring book and crayons were sitting. Tala flipped to the page she had finished the last time Rose had been watching her.

Tala flipped to the next page which was a picture of a dragon lying by a lake. She opened the large crayon box full of bright colors and picked out a light blue. As Tala colored, Rose spoke with her.

"How do you like your new home?" Rose asked.

Truth be told, she had been overjoyed when Sekhmet had asked her to watch Tala for a week. She wanted to know how the little girl was doing. The moving of her foster family and the abrupt disappearance of the Social Worker hadn't set well with Rose. Hell, she hadn't even told Tala's "big brother" about any of this.

"I love it! Sekhmet is the _best_ big brother. He works with snakes (Rose made a face in the background) and lets me help him!"

Rose listened as the little girl prattled on about doing her school work on her iPad, her brother caring for her while she was sick, and more. However, she didn't mention anything about her seclusion in her brother's rooms or the other men. Her brother had cautioned her about telling Rose and Edgar everything. The little girl was smart. She knew some parts of her new life wouldn't be considered "normal."

Rose finished fixing up a small but sizeable balanced meal for Tala. She brought the plate over and Tala scooted her coloring book out of the way.

"Thank you, Mrs. Rose!" Tala said, before picking up her fork and diving in.

She smiled as she watched the little girl eat her breakfast. The little girl fascinated her. She had never met such an intelligent young child. She had a hard time remembering that Tala was only eight years old. There was no doubt the young child would do well with testing in the spring.

"You know what, Tala? Why don't you just call me Grandma Rose from now on?" Rose offered.

Tala's face broke out in a wide grin as she jumped up from her seat to throw her arms up around Rose. She had been blessed with finding her brother and now she had a Grandma, too.

/…/

Tala grinned as she plopped down onto the bed, bouncing slightly as she landed. She looked around the room with big, bright eyes. Grandma Rose's granddaughter by blood was only a few years older than Tala so the room was designed for a child.

She pulled Herbert out of her pocket and placed him on her lap. She smiled as the tiny snake slithered over her lap and up to her hand. She let him slide between her fingers as she brought her hand up in front of her face. She giggled as his scales tickled her skin.

Tala was overjoyed to be back in North Carolina, her home state. Yet at the same time she knew it was going to be the longest week of her life. She hadn't been away from her big brother for such a length of time in quite a while. She knew she would miss him more than anything else.

END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN

***looks around* Okay, now I know I have readers, but where did all my reviewers (with the exception of** jrzgrl02**) go? Come on, readers! This Tigress likes to hear how she's doing. Don't make me call out the Warlords!**

Warlords: *pop their heads in* Did you call us?

Tigergirl: *shakes her head* *whispers* _Please review soon._


	12. Chapter 12

**jrzgrl02:** I agree. It did seem like a slow chapter but sometimes it happens. That's what I wanted. That you feel like you're right there. You're in the story, next to the characters, feeling their emotions, etc. And, yes, I enjoyed writing that part of Sekhmet throwing his fellow warlords out of his room. We can do great things for the people we care about. This chapter took me a while because I kept rearranging and deciding what to put in it. Hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER TWELVE

Grandma Rose was sitting up in her bed reading a book under the glow of a lamp on her bedside table. Her husband Edgar lay sleeping on another twin XL-sized bed near her. She was turning a page when she heard a small sound. With her elderly age, Grandma Rose knew she wouldn't know what the sound was without going to investigate.

She closed her book, laid it on the bedside table, and stood up from her bed. Grandma Rose gathered up her robe and tied it shut before leaving her room. She checked the hall to make sure nothing had fallen from the walls. As she was poking her head in the hall bathroom, Grandma Rose heard the sound again. This time, she could detect the sound was coming from the bedroom Tala was staying in.

She walked down the hall and quietly tapped on the door as she opened it.

"Tala?" she called softly.

As the door swung open with a tiny creak, Grandma Rose's gaze fell on the bed where Tala was sitting up in bed with her knees curled up to her chest. The little girl looked up when the light from the hall fell on her. Grandma Rose quickly crossed the room to Tala's side.

"Tala, dear, are you okay?" Grandma Rose asked.

Tala shook her head while lifting up her hand to rub the sleeve of her shirt over her eye.

"What's wrong?" Grandma Rose asked, making sure to keep her voice soft and non-threatening.

"I had a nightmare," Tala confessed.

Grandma Rose clucked her tongue while reaching a hand up to soothe Tala's hair back out of her face. She offered to get Tala a glass of milk to help. Tala accepted with a smile.

"Would you like to go downstairs with me?" Grandma Rose asked.

Surprisingly, Tala shook her head. She told the older woman she would wait for her there. Grandma Rose stood up and left the door open as she disappeared downstairs. Tala let out a big sigh as she leaned back against her pillow. When she had packed her things, she had forgotten to grab her dreamcatcher.

She couldn't ignore the nightmare she had just had. Flashes of the nightmare filtered through her mind.

Tala had been playing in a park with her brother sitting on a nearby bench. She had called out to him, waving her hands excitedly. Sekhmet had smiled at her while waving back with one hand. Tala had then ducked down and gone through a long tube part of the playground set. However, everything had gone down from there.

Tala had come out the other end of the tube and stood up. When she had glanced back at her brother, she found him gone. She looked all around her, trying desperately to find him. She had rushed down from the playground set, pushing past other kids who were playing.

"Big brother?" she had called. She had expected to see him pop up behind her or something. This hadn't happened. As she started yelling for her brother, parents walked around her getting their children. It was as if they were ignoring her or couldn't see her. Suddenly, as a parent passed in front of her with a toddler, a figure stood several feet from her.

She blinked and now he was considerably closer. She recognized the man as the one with the scar over his eye. The one she had put the blanket over and given a small kiss. He had a smile on his face that had sent chills up her back. He had then spoken to her. His voice had scared her and still made her shake now. She hadn't understood his words, but she had detected the mean tone.

She had woken up when she felt two large hands come down on her shoulders from behind. Rose walked back into the room with a small glass of milk. Tala thanked her as she accepted the glass. Grandma Rose was right. The milk tasted good and it made her sleepy.

She weakly handed the glass back and lay back down under the covers. Grandma Rose pulled the covers up and waited by Tala's side until the little fully fell asleep. Grandma Rose made sure to leave the door cracked open, in case Tala needed her again during the night. The woman wasn't surprised the little girl had trouble sleeping the first night. It was a common problem her youngest granddaughter had when she was younger.

/…/

DAY ONE, FRIDAY

SIX DAYS UNTIL THANKSGIVING

The next morning, it was late when Tala woke up. She stumbled out of bed and changed into her clothes for the day. Tala stopped in the bathroom to use it and wash her face. It felt weird for her to wander around the house.

While she enjoyed it, Tala knew she missed the solitary quiet of her brother's rooms. She felt secure and safe there. At the same time, as she skipped happily down the stairs, Tala knew she was going to enjoy being away. She jumped the last two steps to come to a solid thud on the ground floor. When she walked into the kitchen, she shot Grandma Rose an apologetic smile.

Grandma Rose chuckled. "It's okay, dear. Sit down and have some breakfast."

Tala sat down where a plate full of breakfast food was sitting. She started eating while listening to Grandma Rose.

"Edgar went fishing with some friends so it'll be just you and me today, darling. I thought we would go to the zoo in Asheboro," Grandma Rose suggested.

Tala's face broke out in a wide grin while she finished chewing a piece of pancake. After she swallowed, Tala spoke.

"I've never been there before," Tala confessed.

Grandma Rose frowned but then smiled. With all the moving around to foster homes and her health issues, life must have been difficult for Tala. Grandma Rose knew that life must be much better for Tala with her "big brother" Sekhmet. She was sure the man, as odd as he was, was giving Tala all the love she deserved.

Maurice, Clarice, and their nieces had been good to Tala, probably better than most of her other families, but it wasn't the same. Especially now that the family had disappeared. It was all too suspicious. It made her wonder why the family had left so sudden and why her contact number for the Social Worker didn't work anymore.

I have to remember to bring my camera. I'm sure Sekhmet would like some photos of her as a keepsake, Grandma Rose thought cheerfully.

/…/

"Where should we go first?"

Grandma Rose and Tala stood just inside the zoo on the concrete bridge looking at a folded out map of the place. Grandma Rose had it lowered down to her waist so Tala didn't have to strain to look at it. According to the map, they were close to the Cypress Swamp and Rocky Coast. Tala's medical bracelet dangled over the map as she pointed at the Cypress Swamp.

"A swamp has snakes. Does this one?" Tala asked.

Grandma Rose shrugged. It had been quite a while since she had been to the zoo.

"I'm not sure, sweetie. Would you like to go see if they do?" Grandma Rose inquired.

Tala shook her head excitedly. Unknown to Grandma Rose, Tala had left Herbert in a small, personalized tank under her bed back at the house. She had decided to give him a break. However, she still kept her brother's marble in her pocket. She often would put her hand in her pocket to grasp it just to make sure it was still there.

Grandma Rose folded up the map and put it into her purse that hung at her elbow. She watched as Tala chased off ahead of her. The little girl didn't go too far ahead of her. She would let the woman get a couple of feet from her before moving on forward again.

Grandma Rose was pleased to see the child happy and about. She knew the little girl was carrying her inhaler and Grandma Rose was carrying a list of all the emergency contacts except Sekhmet's number. She hoped an emergency didn't occur because she hadn't even thought about asking Sekhmet how to reach him.

The Cypress Swamp area was nice. It had a variety of animals in it such as cougars, ducks, alligators, turtles and frogs. Grandma Rose took her small digital camera out to snap a photo of Tala when she threw some food pellets to the ducks. As it turns out, there were a couple of snakes in the Cypress Swamp. The two types they found there were the yellow rat snake and the Louisiana pine snake.

Tala recognized the yellow rat snake. It was one of her favorites of her brother's snakes; next to the ball pythons, anyway. She asked Grandma Rose if she could take a picture of the Louisiana pine snake. Tala knew her brother would love pictures of the snakes she saw. She crouched down low with the flash off as she lined the camera up carefully by the glass. While she did this, Grandma Rose read the information on the plaque.

"The Louisiana pine snake. It is a large, nonvenomous constrictor snake. They can get to be as long as 3-4 feet. The Louisiana pine snake is classified as an endangered species. It is considered one of the rarest snakes in North America."

Tala enjoyed how large the snake was. It reminded her of the albino Burmese python that liked to keep her company at night. After she snapped the photo, she stood back up and handed the camera back to her adopted grandmother.

Next, they wandered over to the Marsh. They walked out onto the wooden boardwalk. Tala pointed out all the flowers and birds she could see. Then they stopped by at the Rocky Coast. Grandma Rose loved seeing the harbor seals.

"They are known as earless seals," Grandma Rose told Tala.

"Why?" Tala asked.

Grandma Rose pointed out the seal as it dove out of the water before disappearing back into the depths. The older woman tapped Tala's ear.

"They have no external ears like we do," she explained.

"Cool!" Tala exclaimed, leaning over the railing in hopes of spotting the harbor seal again.

They stayed for a few minutes before continuing on. The Polar Bear exhibit was closed but they could still see the Arctic Fox and Horned Puffin. Grandma Rose sat down on a bench while Tala played with some other kids at the Garden Friends Playground. Grandma Rose chuckled as she pulled out the digital camera and snapped a few photographs; Tala sitting on the back of a large Praying Mantis statue, Tala helping a younger boy climb up a small climbing web, and other photographs.

They explored the zoo all day. Tala found even more snakes in the Streamside, much to Grandma Rose's discomfort. She did well to hide it from the very empathetic child, though. Tala took pictures of all the snakes and tried to learn as much about them as she could from the zookeepers. They grabbed a quick lunch sometime during the late morning.

Their day ended with Tala feeding the giraffes at the Giraffe Deck. Grandma Rose snapped a perfect photograph of a giraffe stretching its long tongue out towards the graham cracker held out in Tala's little hand.

He is going to _love_ these pictures, Grandma Rose thought.

END OF CHAPTER TWELVE

**Please enjoy yet another chapter from the creative mind of Tigergirl. **


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